My Love And I
by Wendy55
Summary: Bella has lived in Forks all her life, but when Alice and the Cullens move to Forks, things suddenly become much more interesting. With their arrival, the Cullens bring with them great changes for Bella and the chance to rekindle old friendships. Non-human.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have rewritten this story from the beginning up until close to the ending. Sorry it took me so long to get back into the groove of updating, but I'm sure after this it'll be better.**

**Thank you to all the readers that have stuck with me.**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter One_

**BPOV**_  
_

It's just junior year Bella, I tell myself as I gingerly move the brush through my wet hair. Despite how excited I had been before summer for this day to come, I can't help the nerves that make me so jumpy now. It's like this every year, and I doubt it's going to get any better. Maybe I shouldn't have declined Angela's offer to stop over this morning. Somehow she always knows how to calm me down in the worst of situations, and this may turn out to be one of those.

I make my way downstairs with my toothbrush poking out between my lips while my hands fumble to attach the little latch on my wrist watch. My frustration rises as the little metal thing refuses to cooperate, and I eventually give up, stuffing it into the front pocket of my jeans.

When I enter the kitchen, I find a note stuck on the fridge door from Charlie telling me that I had a gift waiting outside that I could use to get to school. I feel excited, and rush to the living room to peek out the window, and my toothbrush nearly falls out of my mouth when I see the shiny black motorcycle that's sitting on the driveway. Nerves forgotten, I quickly run upstairs and finish getting ready then grab my backpack and rush back down.

I lock the front door, passing by my red pickup truck that's been sitting dead in the driveway for weeks now, and come to stand by the motorbike. As I run a shaky hand along the glossy black paint, a satisfied sigh escapes my lips. I silently thank Jacob for teaching my how to ride a few weeks ago as I tighten the straps of my backpack, getting ready to mount the beautiful death machine.

I don't realize until I'm on it that I don't have the keys. The note didn't have any keys attached to it, nor did I notice an unfamiliar set of keys laying around anywhere in the house as I got ready. I pull my watch out of my pocket and check the time. It is too late to go searching for them now, so with a deep sigh, I unmount the bike and begin walking to school. I spare a glance back at it and it's as if it's just begging me to ride it. With a final sigh, I turn away from it and continue walking to school.

As I began shivering slightly from the cold air, I really begin to regret declining Angela's offer. I would've called and asked her to pick me up but knowing her, her phone's probably dead. And she's probably at school already, so it's hopeless either way.

After about ten minutes, I can start to see the school, Forks High. I can only just make out the faded bricks and chipped paint, so it shouldn't be a much longer walk.

Just then, a silver Volvo, followed by a yellow Porsche drive past me and into the school parking lot. I don't remember seeing those cars before, so those must be new students. It's rare, but on occasion we get some new kids at the beginning of the year. Usually they don't stay long for one reason or another, but every now and then someone's parents fall in love with the homey feel of the town and they soon become another permanent face in the halls of Forks High.

I pull my watch out of my pocket again and check the time, noticing that I have five minutes left before the warning bell rings. I walk a bit faster and manage to make it just as it rings. As I make my way to homeroom, I find myself already wishing it was lunch time

* * *

**A/N: I haven't changed much at all, just tiny details that make the story flow better. Happy reading, and again I apologize for the lateness.**

**:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Enjoy :3**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Two_

**BPOV**

I make it through all of my morning classes, none of teachers withholding homework though it's the first day of school. I start to pack up my stuff after the last class before lunch when I hear a smooth voice from my right.

"Hello." I lift my head come face to face with one of the new students. "My name is Jasper Hale, and you are?" I look down and see that his hand is outstretched.

"Isabella Swan, but call me Bella; good to meet you," I say, shaking his hand. I'm surprised by how cold it is but then again, the weather here isn't exactly warm.

"Likewise. Do you mind showing me where the cafeteria is? I kept losing my way in between classes and I'm pretty hungry right now, I wouldn't want to miss any of my lunch time," he says with a smile that makes me feel like I'm missing a joke.

"No problem, just let me finish packing up my stuff and I'll show you the way."

As we walk in the hallway all eyes are on us, though mostly on Jasper. I can hear the whispers, some louder than others.

"So how long have you lived in Forks, Bella?" Jasper asks with a polite smile.

Before I can reply, my klutziness kicks in and I trip over my boots. I never make contact with the floor however, since a pair of cold arms catches me before I fall. Looking up, I see Jasper's face closer than I'm comfortable with, and immediately feel a blush creep up my neck and onto my cheeks. I notice the slightly pained look on his face.

"Thanks, I've lived here my whole life," I reply as I right myself. We reach the cafeteria doors and say our goodbyes. I head straight for my table and notice that Angela, Eric and Ben are already sitting there. Eric and Ben begin talking about an upcoming movie that I really couldn't care less about, while I help Angela with her trig homework. We both have Mr. Varner, who was never my favorite teacher. His 'homework everyday' policy is the primary reason.

I feel my ears begin to get hot and I look up, searching for any eyes that are on me. Mine come in contact with a pair of topaz ones, full of mirth and curiosity. The color reminds me of Jasper, and I figure it might be his sibling.

I know that staring is rude, but I can't find it in myself to look away. The eyes are beautiful and I only wake up from the trance I'm in when my eyes begin to burn and I remember to blink. Through my rapid blinking, I notice that the owner of the beautiful eyes is laughing and I can't help the small smile that forms on my face.

When I take the time to take in the rest of her, I'm amazed. She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Her short, spiked hair frames her face well, and makes her look kinda like a pixie or an elf. Her clothes are very form fitting and I'm sure they're designer. She has very pale skin, but it doesn't look sickly. Finally, her eyes - my favorite thing about her so far - are an unusual but enticing color. The exact same color as Jasper's eyes, though hers appear more alive. I feel a strong urge to get to know this beautiful creature and have her know me.

"Bella!" I jump so high I almost fall out of my seat. Looking over to my left, I see that Jessica, Lauren and Mike have joined the table.

"What the hell Jessica?"

"I see you've noticed the Cullens and the Hales" she says, her eyes twinkling. _Oh yay, here comes the gossip_, I sing sarcastically in my head.

I sigh. "You know them?"

"There's five in total, two of them are in our grade, the short girl and the hot guy with the bronze sex hair." She nearly drools as she eyes the "hot guy" and I try not to throw up in my mouth. "I had Art with the short girl. All the guys were like panting after her. It's disgusting." I roll my eyes at the jealousy in her tone.

"Do you know their names?" I ask, glancing back at the pixie-like girl only to find her watching Jessica with annoyance.

"The hot guy's Edward. Such a sexy name, don't you think? I mean, it's not something generic like John or Mike." Mike's head shoots up when he hears his name, but seeing no one talking to him, he turns back to his conversation with Eric.

"And the girl?" I ask, trying not to sound too interested. The blush that appears as I ask probably gives me away though.

"I don't know. Iris or Allen or something. Who cares?" _I do_, I answer in my head.

My gaze wonders back to the table where my nameless girl is sitting. Ahem, I mean _the_ nameless girl.

"And the other three?" I ask with little interest. I already knew Jasper, of course.

"No idea. But the guy with the blonde hair's kinda cute. If a little gay-looking."

"Mr. Varner made Edward introduce himself in trig today," Angela offers. "Apparently they're all adopted, and their father's Dr. Cullen. It's really nice of him and his wife to adopt them all even though they're teenagers."

I nod absently and look at the table again, this time taking in each of them. I'm surprised by the similarity in their appearances since they're supposed to be adopted. They all look pretty nice, except for the huge guy with the dark hair whose neck looks about the same width as my thigh.

I go back to helping Angela with her homework, and we're done with still enough time to eat. My thoughts keep wondering back to Iris-slash-Allen, and I can't seem to stop.

Angela walks me to Biology before making her way to her French class. I enter the room and see that Edward is in this class. Since it's the first day of school there's no seating arrangement, so I go and sit next to him. He's probably my best chance at getting to Iris-slash-Allen.

"Hello," I say with a friendly smile.

He stares at me for a while, as if surprised that I spoke to him before nodding his head in silent greeting.

"So, I heard you're Edward. I'm Bella," I reach my hand out for him to shake. He stares at it for a while before looking back at me with frustration in his gaze. Eventually, he shakes my hand before facing the front of the room.

He's not making conversation easy.

"So, I couldn't help but notice that you have a sister in our grade," I say, trying to seem nonchalant. "What's her name again?"

He answers a bit too late. "Alice."

"Alice," I repeat in a whisper, a warm feeling spreading through me. I can't help the grin that spreads across my face. It suits her much better than Iris or Allen.

I notice Edward looking at me queerly from the corner of his eye, but I ignore him; his purpose was served.

The rest of the day passes quickly, and each time I can't help but hope that I'll have Alice in one of my classes, but I don't. Before I know it, it's my last class of the day - Gym. I enjoy Gym just as much as the next klutz with no sense of equilibrium.

I try not to let it bring me down and walk with my head high, trying to stay optimistic.

"Hi, Bella!" I hear from my right. I turn to face the owner of the voice and see Alice rushing up to me with a grin on her face.

"H-Hi," I stutter before getting a grip on myself. "How do you know my name?"

"Edward," she replies with a small laugh; a cute sound that I want to hear again and never stop listening to. Okay…that's creepy. Snap out of it Bella.

"Thank you Sex Hair," I say a bit too loudly. I can tell she heard me but the weird look she gives me, and I mentally smack myself for managing to look like an idiot within ten seconds of meeting her.

She ignores it and continues to smile. "So, how long have you been in Forks?"

"I've lived here all my life."

"Really? So you should know the place and people really well then, right?"

"That I do, why do you ask?"

"Well, I have practically no sense of orientation, so would you mind showing me around sometime? Or at least for as long as it takes me to get used to being here."

I try to keep my smile in check so she doesn't see just how willing I am to do that. "Well, I don't see why not. Though Forks is pretty small, so it shouldn't take long," I reply.

"I'm sure we'll find other things to occupy our time," she says with a knowing smile, and I feel like I'm missing something. I can't help the pathetic warmth I feel as she says 'our time'. We're already sharing things. "But you're not the only Forks resident who can show me around you know. Mike Newton seemed eager enough to meet me earlier," she adds with a grin as she skips ahead of me, going into the girls' locker room. My smile drops and the warmth disappears. "You coming?" she asks, turning back to me with a grin that lets me know she is teasing.

I jerk back into motion and follow after her with a small smile, wondering how someone her size could have that much energy after such a long day. At least having her in one of my classes is better than none.

Gym ends up being less heinous than I had originally thought it would be, and that is mostly thanks to Alice. We pair up for warm-ups, and she manages to keep me laughing throughout.

We play volleyball, a sport that I hate, but apparently one that Alice excels in. Whenever a ball comes in my direction I avoid it, which costs us more than one game. Alice isn't even upset about it. She just laughs and moves on like it never happened, which is more than I can say about the others on our team. I manage to hit the ball every now and then, twice hitting Alice and three times it bounces off the net and hits me. Alice offers to hit the balls for me, but still lets me attempt to get one every now and then.

By the time we start heading to the changing rooms, I'm sweating heavily, but Alice doesn't even look like she's started. When I mention this to her, she takes my water bottle and pours its contents down the front of her shirt.

"There, better?" she asks with a smirk.

"Much," I say, unable to keep my eyes off the outline of her breasts made visible by the water.

"Why are you sweating so much anyway? I did most of the running."

I snap out of my stupor and bring my eyes back up to hers. "You might not know this, but continuously dodging a ball is very hard work, and takes a lot of energy. Only people with my superior lack of balance can perform such a task." She rolls her eyes at me and enters the changing room.

I manage to keep my eyes to myself while she changes, even though the urge to glance over is nearly overpowering. We make our way to the parking lot and I keep my eyes on my feet, not wanting to end up tripping over air as I usually do. I end up bumping into Alice who seems to have frozen in place. Just before I begin to worry, she becomes aware of everything around her again and begins walking.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Definitely," she replies, skipping ahead a few paces before turning back to me. "You coming?"

Come to think of it, she has been zoning a few times. Twice during gym, and once in the locker rooms. I had written it off as nothing though, not wanting to put too much thought into something that might turn out to be nothing.

As we get closer to the cars, I see four people - Jasper among them - walking toward the silver Volvo I had seen this morning.

"Are you related to those guys? You all have the same eye and skin color," I ask Alice.

"Yeah, but we're not directly related…it's complicated."

I nod my head. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yep, see you tomorrow Bella," she says, giving me a brief but warm hug. She skips off toward the Porsche, pulling her keys out of her backpack as she goes. I roll my shoulders, the weight of my backpack beginning to take its toll, before beginning to make my way home. I walk past unnoticed by the crowd that is gathered around the two cars, Alice's Porsche especially.

As I walk home, I grow more and more irritated by how far from school I live. At least the weather here isn't as hot as it was in Phoenix when I used to visit my mom. Thinking about Renée makes my good mood vanish. She died in a car accident on her way from work when I was eleven, and even now it still hurts to think about her.

I try to hold back the tears I can feel brimming in my eyes, quickly wiping them away before they can spill over. I focus on happier memories I have of her; playing on the beach, building sand castles, going along with her during one of her crazier phases - like when she had decided to become a fitness trainer. I cringe at the thought of how much we ran for those three days before she gave up on it and decided to pick up baking instead. She was random like that.

I feel a smile work its way onto my face and my mood lifts up slowly. I look up and notice that I'm about halfway home, so I figure if I keep my mind on something, I'll be there in no time.

Alice is the first thing to pop into my head. Certainly, the wonder that is Alice will keep me occupied. As soon as her name has filled my head, I feel myself blush as I remember how she looked after pouring my water down her shirt. A small part of me worries about already reacting this way at just the thought of her even though I've only just met her.

I'm brought out of my musings when a car slows down to a crawl next to me. I look over and see Alice sitting in the driver seat with a smile on her beautiful face, waving me closer. When she stops the car, I walk over at a leisurely pace, kicking a stone out of the way and bend down to the window level, which is a bit difficult because of my height and how low the car is.

"You want a ride?" she asks, her eyes dancing. I hesitate, not wanting to take up her time by having her drive me home. "Don't worry, I won't bite," she says, smiling like she knows something that I don't. Eventually I give in, figuring that my house is probably on the way to hers anyway since I saw her car pass me by in the morning.

Her car has a black leather interior with a fancy looking radio and a sleek LCD monitor tucked into the dashboard. It looks like a mini computer screen, but I can't be sure, and I'm not about to go poking around her car to see what everything is.

"You have a very nice looking car," I tell her casually, even though 'nice' is an understatement.

"Thank you. By the way, I think I saw you on my way to school this morning. Do you want me to give you a ride tomorrow so you don't have to walk?"

"No, thank you. We just met and I don't want to impose."

"You won't be. I'll be here by 6:45, if that's not too early," she replies with a cute grin.

I can't help the blush that creeps onto my face as I'm momentarily dazed by her beauty. "N-No, 6:45 is great," I finally reply. "Anyway, you know I shouldn't be taking rides from strangers, right?" I say teasingly.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not strange, isn't it?" she says, with a small smile.

The rest of the ride is spent in comfortable silence, the only words spoken are me telling her when to stop, and then our goodbyes.

"See you tomorrow Bell," she says out when I climb out of her car.

"See ya'!" I reply, with a small wave.

I watch her drive off and let out a happy sigh. I guess school isn't going to be as bland as I thought.

I turn around, once again noticing the sexy black motorcycle in the driveway. I guess since I don't have the keys anyway, it's a good thing Alice offered me a ride.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading, review if you can.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's chapter 3, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Three_

**BPOV**

I check my reflection in my bike's rear view mirror, tucking a few stray hairs back into place. With a deep breath and a quick roll of my shoulders, I place my hands gingerly on the handlebars. I turn the key in the ignition and the bike starts with a gentle purr. A grin appears on my face and I rev the engine, unable to help myself.

As soon as I start moving, the familiar feeling of having wind in my face calms me. It's an unusually sunny Saturday and I make sure to take advantage of it. I ride my bike all around Forks for the entire morning, eventually making my way over to Angela's place. I park the bike on their driveway and get off, hanging my helmet on one of the handlebars.

"Bella!" Angela says with a smile when she comes out of her house.

"Hey Gorgeous," I reply with my own smile, hugging her. She was an inch or two taller than me, something I liked to tease her about.

"You were supposed to be here half an hour ago."

"I had a little too much fun with my bike," I explain, following her inside.

"Josh and Dave wouldn't stop asking where you were. I was about to tape their mouths shut."

"Aww, that's not very nice." As soon as I enter past the door, I'm attacked by her brothers, each with grins on their faces.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Dave sings, while Josh talks faster than I can follow about an episode of Spongebob that I missed.

"Guys. Guys!" They both stop talking and look up at me. "So what's up?" I ask with a grin.

I spend the rest of the morning with them before I finally manage to get them absorbed into some cartoons and I slip away with Angela to her room.

"So what's your deal with Alice?" she asks laying on her bed with her feet propped up on my lap.

"What do you mean what's my deal?"

"Oh come on Bella, I'm not blind. You have the hots for her and it's only been, what? A couple of weeks?"

I roll my eyes. "You know you're the only one for me babes," I was stalling, and she could tell.

"I thought I was too tall for you," she counters, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Height's just a measurement baby. I'll just wear heels."

"We both know you hate heels."

"_Hated _heels. Get it right."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Come on B. You look like you could bite Eric's head off whenever he makes a move on her, or tries to anyway. More so with Mike. Why does it bother you so much unless you have a thing for her?"

"She's too short for me." Even I can hear the lie clear in my voice.

"I thought height was just a measurement."

"_Angela_," I whine, shoving her feet off my lap and moving to sit on her desk chair.

"Oh come on, it's not like I'm gonna run off to tell her."

I sigh. Angela can be really persistent when she wants to be.

"I'm honestly not sure myself. I mean, I like her a lot. Like, I'm drawn to her. But I'm not sure if she feels the same way. Plus, like you said it's only been a few weeks. That's too short to know for sure, right?"

She shrugs. "Everyone's different. Maybe you should try asking her out. You haven't been with anyone in a long time Bella, and you really should try to move on. Emily would want you to," she whispers the last part, sympathy in her eyes.

I stare at her for a while, but she doesn't back down. Eventually I sigh and look out her window, seeing clouds beginning to form in the sky. The sun never lasts long in Forks.

"I better get going, it's gonna get dark soon." She nods and gets up, following me downstairs.

We pass by her brothers who have fallen asleep on each other on the couch. I smile a bit at the sight before heading for the door.

"See you Monday," Angela says, hugging my tightly.

"Yeah," I mumble, hugging her back.

"Just think about it Bella. You two would make a cute couple," she offers with a teasing smile.

I roll my eyes. "Sure sure."

I make my way over to the bike and mount it, getting my helmet on before waving at her one more time.

On the way home, I think about what Angela said. Of course I like Alice - probably since day two of knowing her. I just don't know how to act on it I guess. She gets along with my friends pretty well, and has even begun to sit with us sometimes at lunch, so if we start going out it wouldn't make much of a difference at school.

Time seems elusive whenever I'm around her, and I don't mind. Even Charlie likes her, whenever she isn't keeping me up at odd hours of the night over the phone. Sometimes he'd come and tell me to go to sleep, but as soon as he leaves the room I just speak softer so he doesn't hear.

I decide to at least try and see if she likes me back on Monday. Truth be told, I'm not at all opposed to asking her out, I'm just nervous about her reaction. For goodness' sake, I don't even know if she swings that way.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading, review if you'd like.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter 4, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Four_

**BPOV**

Eventually, it's Monday, and I don't see Alice all day until lunch. She sits with us as usual, and I try not to let Saturday's realization too obvious to everyone. It's hard though, since all I want to do is kiss her and declare my love for her.

Okay maybe not love, but I definitely have a thing for her. I try to look out for signs that she might possibly feel the same way for me, but I have no idea how someone can tell such things.

Angela keeps giving me suggestive looks and then a smirk whenever I'd blush in response, and I see Alice watching us silently a few times. I eventually have to kick Angela's shin under the table to make her stop with the looks.

When lunch ends, Alice looks irritated and doesn't speak to Angela or me the whole way to my Biology class.

"See ya later babes," Angela says, smacking my behind as she walks past us to her French class.

"Bye," I reply with a smile that drops when I hear something like growling coming from Alice. I glance at her but she keeps her glaring eyes trained on Angela's back. "See you in Gym Ali," I say in an attempt to get her attention.

She gives me a kurt nod without looking at me and goes to her class which is next to mine.

Everyone is chatting when I enter the room, some tossing balls of paper back and forth between each other and I move to sit next to Ben who has his nose stuck in a comic book. When did all these people get here? The bell signaling the end of lunch rang just two minutes ago.

When Mr. Banner enters the room, everyone scrambles to take a seat. He just shakes his head and goes to his desk, setting his briefcase down on the desk before moving to the front of the class.

"Today, I'll be moving people around, mostly to reduce the noise level, but also for a few of you who need help from their peers with certain topics or in-class assignments. If I call your name, you sit at the seat that I show you..." There are a few groans at having assigned seating, but no one says anything out right. I drown out the names of the other people, until I realize that I would be sitting next to Edward.

"…Stevens, you sit next to Crowley. Swan, you sit here next to Cullen. Stanley, you'll sit..." I stop listening again, catching my new lab partner's eye briefly. Alice spoke about him every now and then, but never really told me much. He seems like a nice enough guy and like every other member of Alice's family, he's very beautiful, er…handsome. Alice still takes the cake though.

I move to the seat Mr. Banner pointed out then turn to face Edward who has also sat down, only to find him glaring at me with frustration. I cringe back, facing the front of the room. I can still feel his eyes burning a hole into the side of my head.

The class takes forever, and that is probably thanks to Edward. I'm a little more than confused the whole time, not to mention creeped out. When the bell finally rings, I'm prepared to make a mad dash out of the classroom, but he beats me to the punch. Well, good riddance.

Even though the following classes pass by in blur, I can't get Edward's creepy black eyes out of my mind. Wait, black? I thought his eyes were golden, like the rest of his family. In fact, I have _seen _his eyes before, and they were golden. Maybe they all wear contacts so they can better pass for siblings? But then what's the point of that if they are going to say they're adopted?

I'm so far into my musings that I don't notice that there's someone in front of me until I bump into them. Whoever it is has a rock-hard body. I feel like I rammed into a wall...a tiny wall.

"Hi Bella!"

"Hello, Alice," I say with a smile. Her mood seems to have lifted significantly.

"Ready for Gym?"

"No."

"Aw, come on. I thought you were going to work on your phobia of balls."

"That's what she said."

"Ugh, Bella! I didn't mean it like that. Get your mind out of the gutter." I laugh at her disgusted face.

"Sorry Ali. And when did I say I'd 'work on' anything?"

"I assumed you would after last class's dodge ball game."

We are playing badminton today though, one of the lesser evils because the little birdie can't really hurt me unless someone smashes it toward me. Whenever someone does, Alice steps in and hits it over the net. The one time I try to hit it, the racket flies out of my hand and hits Alice on the shoulder. She doesn't even look like she notices.

"Are you okay Ali?"

"Of course, why?"

"My racket just flew at you."

"Oh, I noticed but didn't want to stop the game. Come to think of it, it does hurt a bit. I think I'm going to sit down for a while." I nod and go back to the game.

It. Is. Hell.

Needless to say, I hit myself with the racket more than once, and I have more than a few bruises by the end of it. Alice looks super concerned the whole time, and keeps glaring daggers at the other team. When the game finally ends, she rushes up to me and throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I should have just kept playing."

"Hey, it's not your fault." I say, loving the hug.

"Yeah it is," she mumbles softly.

"No it's not! You couldn't have done anything, and it's not like you knew this was going to happen." She looks away, biting her lip. "Did you bribe those other guys to give it to me good or something? Because if this is about the time I dumped my juice on you, I'm sorry. And you know that was a mistake anyway."

I stop talking when I notice that she has zoned out again. I wait patiently for her to come out of whatever trance she is in, and when she does, she looks at me apologetically and runs to the changing rooms. I follow after her but when I get to the door, Alice comes running out. I hear her mumble something like "Victoria" into her phone as she goes, and I try not to assume the worst. _Does she already have a girlfriend? She didn't even say goodbye._

I sigh and go to change, then find Angela waiting for me outside the changing rooms when I'm done.

"Hey, you okay?" she asks immediately.

"Yeah," I mumble back. "Something's up with Alice, that's all. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure Bella. Call me if anything happens."

I nod. "Bye."

I look at the parking lot and see Alice speaking with the rest of her siblings and decide to just walk home instead of hovering around her until they are done talking. I walk for a while before it starts raining. I curse my bad luck and begin to walk faster with my head down.

I can begin to see my house when I notice Alice's Porsche drive past me so fast that I get splashed with a small puddle of muddy water that has formed because of the rain. I sigh and try to get some of the mud off my face. I wonder what's gotten into her.

I keep walking and eventually make it home, now starting to feel cold. Charlie's cruiser is not in the driveway, and I just walk on into the house. I start making supper while my books are hung all over the living room with the heater turned on so they can dry.

"Goodness, it's hot in here," Charlie says when he walks in. He takes off his jacket and hangs it on the back of one of the mis-matched chairs in the kitchen. "What are trying to do, make a sauna out of my house?"

"Yeah, sure," I mumble distractedly. It doesn't take him too long to figure out that I'm upset.

"What happened?" he asks while taking a glass from the cupboard.

I sigh. "You know Alice, right?"

"Your little girlfriend? Yeah."

My eyes widen and I spin around to face him. "Excuse me?" Charlie knows about my preference, but how did he come to the conclusion that Alice is my girlfriend?

"Yes, well. She's always hanging around you. Whenever she comes over, you guys are like this," he twists his index and middle finger together. "And you should see the way you look at her Bells. I'd be stupid not to notice."

"She's not my girlfriend dad."

"Oh. So you haven't asked her yet?"

"I don't even think she likes me that way. She seemed pretty upset after school, and she didn't offer me a ride home like she usually does."

"Oh, that's why the living room looks like that. Did you ask her for a ride?"

"Dad, this is the twenty-first century. Had I asked her for a ride, I would have sounded needy, and unable to take care of myself."

"That's why you chose to walk in the rain?" he asks incredulously.

"You wouldn't understand."

He holds up his hands in surrender before shaking his head.

"Why is there mud all over my floor?"

I sigh heavily. "I got sprayed by Alice's car when she drove past me."

"Hmm, doesn't sound like her. She's such a sweet girl, doesn't seem to have a mean bone in her body. Are you sure she was the one driving? The windows on her car are pretty dark."

I blush. "I hadn't thought about that."

Charlie grins. "You young folk overlook the obvious too much sometimes. It's embarrassing really."

"Sorry to be such an inconvenience," I grumble sarcastically.

"You know I'm only kidding squirt." He ruffles my hair and then leaves the kitchen to hang up his gun and keys before going to sit in the living room. I had known to leave his chair unoccupied by my books because, knowing Charlie, he'd sit right on them and say I should have known better.

I finish fixing supper, and after a not-so-eventful dinner with Charlie, I go and get my books from the living room then try to do as much homework as possible with semi-ruined books.

By the time I'm done with everything, it's pretty late and I'm super tired. I make quick work of getting ready for bed, and am out cold as soon as my head hits the pillow.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are appreciated :) Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: A bit of a short chapter, but I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Five_

**BPOV**

The following day, I wake up with a massive headache, a cold, and a fever. How do a cold and a fever even mix anyway? I feel terrible, but don't want to miss school; obviously Alice has something to do with that. I want to know why she left in such a hurry. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

I get ready at a sluggish pace, and by the time I'm done, I have ten minutes before the warning bell would ring. Charlie had finally given me the keys to my bike, and I was just well enough to ride without worrying about ending up wrapped around a tree. Or, with my luck, a lamp post.

When I eventually make it, I have ten minutes of first period left because of how slowly I was going, so I decide to just skip the rest. I make my way to the office to get my late slip then go to second period.

My morning classes pass quickly and like always, I walk with Jasper to the lunch room and we part ways at the doors. When I get to my usual table, I notice that Alice is sitting with her siblings today. I sigh. Guess I'll just have to talk to her about it during Gym then.

Angela notices my sullen mood and hugs me to her when I sit down, her hand running through my hair softly. Everyone else leans away from me all during lunch to avoid catching whatever it is I've manage to come down with. Mike invites me to a party at the La Push beach on Saturday, and he doesn't take no for an answer. Angela will be there though, so maybe it won't be as terrible. I should try to get Alice to come with us too. If she talks to me, that is. Hopefully I won't run into Leah.

The rest of my classes pass by in a blur and eventually it's time for Gym again. I make my way to the changing rooms and get dressed quickly.

The coach makes me sit out of today's class, but I don't mind because that wouldn't stop me from talking to Alice. Whenever someone walks out of the changing rooms, I turn my head, hoping it's Alice, but I'm disappointed each time. I give up when coach starts taking attendance and Alice still isn't there.

Halfway through class, I see Alice walking up to the teacher, handing him a note before joining the others in Badminton. As I watch her, I can't help but notice how graceful she is whenever she moves around. I squash the jealousy that threatens to rise.

She glances at me a few times, but when she sees me staring at her, she looks away just as fast. At the end of class, I change as fast as I can, and chase after Alice, who is already making her way out of the gym.

"Alice, wait!" I call after her. I see her shoulders slump as she turns around to face me.

"What, Bella?" she asks, not looking directly at me.

"Um…what's up?" I begin lamely.

"Nothing." A very loud silence follows, and it seems as if time is moving slower.

"So, uh...what happened yesterday?"

"Family issues." Another short reply; she's not making this easy for me.

I sigh. "Look Alice, I don't know what I did to upset you, but I'm sorry okay?"

"I'm not upset Bella," she says softly. "I'm just…dealing with things right now. Like I said, there were some family issues that had to be taken care of."

I deliberate on whether or not to ask her what it is and I notice that she zones off again for a short while, before she coming back, her face looking pained.

"Would you just make up your mind about something? You're giving me a headache!"

I look at her with confused eyes. "What?"

She seems to catch herself, shaking her head and bidding me goodbye. I don't even get to ask her about the beach trip.

I sigh and make my way to my bike, putting my helmet on and putting the key in the ignition. When the engine starts up, I get more than a few curious and jealous glances, but I ignore them all. I ride out of the parking lot, weaving in and out of the queue of cars all trying to get out at the same time.

Alice's car zooms past me. I'm far too agitated about the beach trip this Saturday and the possibility of running into Leah.

_I need to see Jacob about my truck anyway_, I figure, trying to make the trip sound a little more worth while.

* * *

**A/N: More will be revealed about Leah and Bella's relationship later on. Reviews are appreciated, and thanks for reading :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Another slightly shorter chapter. They'll become longer once the story moves along some more :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Six_

**BPOV**

On Thursday, my bike refuses to start up and I'm forced to walk again. I don't see Alice until the very end of Gym, so I don't really get to talk to her.

As I'm walking home, I start thinking that maybe I shouldn't leave my bike out in the rain. Sure would save me a lot of walking. About halfway there, Alice's car drives past me before slowing down to stop.

"You need a ride?" Alice asks when I reach the open window.

"Are you sure? I still have a cold and I don't want to make you sick."

"It's okay, my dad's a doctor and we all got our flu shots," she says, looking like she was enjoying some private joke. The Volvo drives past us, Jasper throwing me a small wave through the open window. I return it before turning back to Alice.

"Okay then, just don't say I didn't warn you. I don't want your father to be angry at me for getting his little princess sick," I say, getting into the car.

Alice rolls her eyes. "You make it sound like I'm some sort of daddy's girl."

"With a car like this, I don't doubt it," I say, leaning my head back on the seat.

"Are you saying I'm spoiled?"

"That's one way of looking at it."

She narrows her eyes at me.

"Eyes on the road please, Alice. I don't want us to end up wrapped around a tree." She rolls her eyes again, but does as I ask.

"So I was wondering," she begins. "Would you like to come over to my place on Friday for a sleepover with me and Rose?" I nearly laugh at the thought of having a sleepover with Alice's sister.

"Your sister doesn't like me," I tell her, looking out the window.

"How can you know that? You two have never talked once."

"Because she's always glaring at me."

"She's not glaring, she's just...trying to see you better. She needs glasses, but won't admit it," Alice says.

I stare at her, waiting for her to admit what we both knew. Eventually, she sighs.

"Fine, so you're not her favorite person at the moment. She's not so bad though once you get to know her." She stops the car and turns it off.

"You wanna come in?" I ask, hoping she'll say yes.

"Sure, but I don't think I can stay for long," she glances at the clock in the car's dashboard.

We get inside and leave our shoes near the entrance, then go upstairs to my room. I show off my comic book collection to her, and she ends up engrossed in them. I pretend to read as well, really just watching her out of the corner of my don't realize how late it is until we hear Charlie closing the front door.

"Bells? Alice?"

"Wow, I didn't even notice what time it is," Alice says while I check my wrist watch.

"Yeah. Hey, um…" I began nervously.

"Yes?"

"There's this beach party on Saturday and I was wondering if, after we're done with the sleepover, you wanted to come."

"Which beach?"

"First Beach. It's over in La Push."

"Oh. I'm sorry Bella, but I can't. My parents don't like me going there."

"Why not? We'll be a whole group so you don't have to worry about getting lost or not being safe."

"I know, but I'm gonna be doing something on Saturday with my family anyway."

I try not to look too disappointed. "Well, there's always next time, right?"

"Of course."

We go downstairs and greet Charlie before putting on our shoes and making our way to the door.

"See you in the morning?" Alice says.

"Yeah, I'm not sure what's up with my bike recently."

"Maybe Rose could take a look at it. She's great with mechanical stuff. You can bring it over on Friday."

Charlie decides to make himself known at that moment. "Hey, no kissing you two. I don't want to have two sneezing teenagers hanging round my house, it's bad for my image." He makes the universal "I've got my eyes on you" sign, before retreating to the kitchen.

I'm sure that my face is beet red, and I glare at the spot where he was just standing.

Alice giggles. "I'll see you tomorrow Bella," she says, kissing my cheek before heading outside. My face can't get anymore red and to compensate, my mouth falls open.

While I watch her make her way to her car, Charlie comes to stand next to me.

"She's a lovely girl. You really should ask her out Bells, before someone else snags her."

"I'm working on it," I say quietly, waving at Alice while she starts her car. She waves back, grinning and drives off.

I go back inside, realizing that I haven't made supper yet. "Don't worry about it Bells, I ordered some pizza."

I sit on the couch and watch TV with him until the pizza arrives. It's not plain cheese, but I eat it anyway because I'm so hungry.

* * *

**A/N: Alice so heard that little comment ^^ Review with your thoughts or ideas.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, starting to get longer now. Let's meet the Cullens :D**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Seven_

**BPOV**

The week passes quickly and soon it's Friday. I stuff the last bit of my sandwich into my mouth and put my plate away. Alice will be here any minute.

It's the first time I'll be officially meeting anyone in her family besides Jasper, so I dress a bit better than I would otherwise.

I grab my backpack, duffle bag and wrist watch off the table and make my way to the door. Just as I'm about to reach for the handle, there's a knock. I open it before Alice is done knocking.

"Someone's eager," Alice says, a surprised look on her face. Mmm...she smells even better than before. What perfume _is _that?

"I was at the door when you knocked."

She takes my duffle bag from my hands and we make our way to her car.

"So I was wondering," I begin, "after the…sleepover could you drop me off at Angela's place? We're gonna ride to the beach together."

She looks a bit peeved when I mention Angela's name, but her face relaxes before I can make sense of it.

"Sure thing. Just let me know when you want to head out."

"Thanks. Are you shorter?" I blurt out without thinking.

"Huh? No, I'm not." Alice glances at the top of my head and frowns a bit. "You seem to have grown though."

I shrug and we get in the car.

"Emmett's gonna come by after school and get your bike. Do you have the keys with you?"

I hand them to her and she drops them in her backpack before starting her car and driving off.

By the end of the day, the only thing keeping me awake is knowing that I have a date later with Alice. Well not a date, but it'll get there eventually.

On our way to the parking lot, an idea strikes me.

"Alice, would you mind if I drive?" She stares at me, probably wondering if I'm being serious or not.

"You don't know where I live Bella. It would take much longer for us to get there if I have to give you directions."

"Please?" I ask, now close to begging. "Your car's so cool, and I just-"

"But she's my baby," she whines.

"I'll be your slave for life if you let me."

"That's a really long time," she muses. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, if you let me drive." She thinks for a bit longer, before nodding.

"Okay then _slave, _drive me to my house," Ali says, tossing the keys to me with a glint in her eyes.

"Yes, ma'am," I reply with a grin, quickly jumping into the car and adjusting the seat and mirrors. "Damn you're short."

"I really don't need a slave, you know," she says, giving me a peeved look.

I raise my hands in surrender before fastening my seatbelt. "Put on your seatbelt." I say while starting the car.

"It'll mess up my clothes," she replies. We sit there with the car idling until she sighs and relents.

"Thank you," I say with a triumphant smile.

During the entire drive I have a grin on my face, loving how smoothly the car moves. Alice teases me about my face getting stuck like that, but I ignore her; I'm having too much fun.

I turn into a tiny dirt road that Alice points out, and we drive along it for a couple of minutes until we reach the house at the end of the road.

As I look up at the building, I can hardly believe my eyes. It's practically a mansion with large windows for walls and an atmosphere that's just oozing grandeur.

A woman who reminds me a bit of my mother is standing on the porch, a warm smile on her face. I blink twice to make sure I'm not just imagining this.

I exit the car slowly and notice that Alice already has my bag in her hand.

"Don't call her Mrs. Cullen, it makes her feel old," Alice whispers to me as we near the porch. I nod.

"Hello Bella dear," the woman says, pulling me into a light hug. I'm surprised at the gesture, but returned it. "I'm Esme, Alice's mother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs- uh, Esme." I say, as she releases me from the hug. She smells lovely, though not as good as Alice.

Alice heads inside ahead of us, and when I make my way in I'm blown away again.

"Wow," I whisper, not thinking anyone heard me before I hear a few snickers coming from the guys sitting around the TV. It's all one big room with a couple of support pillars scattered around.

"Thank you Bella," Esme says, throwing a reproving look at the boys.

"Esme designed it herself," Alice says, walking over to stand next to me again.

"Really?" I ask, my eyes widening further.

"Alice," Esme scolds.

"What? I'm just saying."

The whole house smells wonderful, and I have to stop myself from outright sniffing around.

Alice gives me a tour of the house and we end up in the kitchen.

"You didn't show me your room," I say.

"Oh, didn't I?" she asks nervously.

"I believe so," I reply, a small smile making its way to my face.

"Hmm," she turns to look at Esme who's preparing some food by the stove.

I shrug. "Well, if you're not going to show me, I'll have to use my imagination, no?"

Her eyes dart to me quickly, but she doesn't say anything.

"Let's see…pink everywhere," Alice wrinkles her nose, "on the bed, the walls, the floor…" she narrows her eyes. "Disney fairies all over your walls? A definite maybe," she turns to glare at me.

"Fine! I'll show you my stupid room."

Alice pulls me behind her forcefully. If there's anything that I learned about Alice, it's that she absolutely _hates _fairies. Which is ironic because she'd make a cute one.

I pull my hand out of hers, walking back to the kitchen. "It's okay, I don't want to see it anymore. I've got a pretty good idea now."

She lets out something like a growl before grabbing my hand back and pulling me faster. I can't help but chuckle at her determination.

When we get to her door, she takes a deep breath before opening it.

Her room looks and smells beautiful. All I can smell is Alice, blocking every other scent out, and I drown in it.

Her walls turn out to be different shades of green on every wall except for one which is taken up by the window. There's a white fluffy queen sized bed in the middle of her room, and I wonder why she needs all of that space. There are two doors on either side of the room. The first, which is open, is the bathroom.

Alice notices me looking at the closed door and pulls me to it. We enter a whole room dedicated to just clothes and shoes. She's just one girl!

There are shelves lining up each wall filled with clothes and racks in the middle of the room with rows of shoes. The room is bigger probably than my own room back home.

"Wow," is all I can say when I find my voice again.

"Thank you," Alice replies. "I share it with Rose though, our rooms are connected by this room. Though I'll admit most of this stuff is mine."

We move back into her bedroom and I go to sit on her bed. She joins me and I notice that her feet don't even touch the floor properly.

"Why do you have such a huge bed?"

"Reasons," she shrugs, laying back on it.

"Like what?"

"Naughty things," she says, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. I roll my eyes at her.

I'm slightly bothered when I realize that Alice possibly did already sleep with someone in the past, and I'm brought back to wondering if she's ever had a girlfriend or would be willing to have one.

There's a knock on the door, and before Alice can get up to open it, Rosalie walks in.

"Hello Alice," she says before turning to me, "...Bella.

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dun... Okay, not really :P R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Just a bit of fluff :3**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Eight_

**BPOV**

"Hi," I mumble.

"I just came by to tell you about the progress on your bike. It just needed some oil and gas, but I took the liberty of fixing up the engine so it can go faster."

"Wow, thank you. That was quick." It's then that I notice the grease stains on her shirt.

"I'm not completely done yet, so I'll have Emmett drop it off once I'm done. Till then, you'll be traveling with Shorty."

"I'm not short!" Alice says, glaring at Rosalie.

"5'2" is kinda short Ali," I say.

"It's not my fault everyone here's a damn skyscraper!" she grumbles with frustration as she leaves the room.

Rosalie and I share a look as we follow after her. I'm glad to see that Alice was right about Rosalie, she's alright once you get to know her. I think giving her my bike to work on helped a little though.

"Anyway, Esme told me to call you for lunch, so whenever you're ready you can head over there."

"Thank you Rosalie."

"Just Rose," she says with a smile before she heads back to the garage.

"See? I told you she's not so bad."

Alice heads to the living room where Emmett and Jasper are still playing their game while I go to the kitchen.

I eat rather quickly - the food is delicious and I'm starving - but Esme refuses my offer to help clean up afterwards. When I return to the living room, I see Alice mow racing against Emmett in a game. She sits on her knees, then moves to lay her belly, then on her back, then stands before sitting on Emmett's lap to block his view of the screen.

"Ugh, Alice! Get out of my way!" Emmett shouts, trying to look around her and shove her off at the same time. Alice pays him no attention, sitting on his lap long enough for her to get a decent lead before getting up and driving her car past the finish line.

"Yes! I won! I won!" Alice sings, dropping the controller and hugging me. "Did you see that?"

"Yep, you won. Though you did cheat," I say, returning the hug.

"I did not cheat. I didn't see anywhere where it says I can't sit on the lap of another player." I roll my eyes, removing my arms from her waist. Her own arms linger for a moment longer around my neck before she lets go.

"What do you want to do now?" I ask.

"Well, I was thinking we could go shopping! Oh, I'll get you the cutest dress!"

"Dress? Alice-"

"I wonder if we can get Rosalie and Esme to come."

"Alice!"

"We can turn it into a girls' night!"

"Alice!"

"What Bella?"

"I don't want to got shopping." She stares at me, as if wondering if she heard correctly.

"Come again?" she says, her smile fading and her eyes narrowing.

"What I meant was I don't want to go shopping _tonight_," I say, stepping away from her. "I'd love to go another time." I bump into something hard.

"Hey Belly," Emmett says, a huge grin on his face. How on earth did he get from the couch to there?

"Belly?"

"Yeah. As in Jelly-Belly." I shake my head at him. "You're taller than I remember. It's like you grew three inches in one night."

"Yeah, I know. It's weird." What's more weird is that I haven't been tripping as much lately.

The rest of the day passes uneventfully. I meet Carlisle, as he insists to be called, and despite being surrounded by six people I technically just met, I'm extremely comfortable the entire time.

Alice offers me her room to sleep in, insisting that I shouldn't have to use the guest room.

I jump into the covers, wearing just my sleeping shirt and underwear when Alice comes out of the bathroom naked except for her own underwear. My heart starts drumming louder than before as I blush madly. Alice doesn't react and climbs into the covers beside me, pulling them up to her neck.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," she comments with a small smile on her face.

I shake my head to clear the haziness. Yeah, falling asleep isn't going to be as easy as I thought.

"I swear you did Bella."

"Nope, still don't believe you." Alice has been telling me all morning that not only did I pull her into my arms and hold her there all night, I had said her name in my sleep a few times.

"Bella, c'mon you've got to remember." I remember holding her. I'm just too embarrassed to admit it.

"You're making it up. Deluding yourself into believing what you _wish_ to have happened."

Thankfully, she drops it eventually and my cheeks are able to return to their normal color.

"We have a few more hours before I have to drop you off at Angela's; what do you want to do till then?"

I shrug and lean back into the couch, my arm limp around her shoulders.

I don't realize that I've dozed off until I'm being gently shaken and Alice's face is in front of mine when I open my eyes.

"Come on Sleepy Head. We have to get you to Angela's. Your stuff's already in the car."

I get up and stretch sluggishly then say my goodbyes to the others. I follow Alice to the garage and am surprised by how many cars there are.

"Do you guys not believe in carpooling?" I ask with a chuckle.

Rosalie laughs from her place next to my bike. "Of course we do. We also happen to believe in owning good looking cars." She wipes at some grease on her face with the sleeve of her shirt, smearing it around.

Alice starts her car up and pulls out of the garage.

"See you around Rose." She waves without looking away from what she's doing and I jog over to Alice's car and get in.

Eventually, we reach Angela's house and I tell Alice to stop the car.

When I get out of her car, she leans over before I can close the door. "Don't wander off into the woods by yourself."

"Um…okay. I won't," I say with a chuckle.

"See you on Monday." I wave and walk over to knock on Angela's door.

I find her already prepared so we leave as soon as I finish greeting her parents and brothers. The entire drive there, I try to settle my nerves about the possibility of bumping into Leah.

* * *

**A/N: Here we go, gonna start seeing some more action soon. R&R**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This is a fairly important chapter in the story. Gives you a bit of insight on the characters. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Nine_

**BPOV**

It's only about fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with dense forest on either side of the road, and the wide Quillayute River running under it twice. The river is apparently very old and basically sacred to the Quileute people, hence why it was named that.

When we eventually arrive, the beach looks less empty than it usually does since the sun is peaking out more than usual today. I have only come here a few times in the past with Jacob since the possibility of me hurting myself or someone else is made drastically higher by my inability to walk on the beach sand.

Angela and I go and sit on the logs facing the beach watching the others play in the water and surf non-existent waves. The two of us opt to sit out since we don't want to go through the hassle of washing sand and salt out of our hair. Soon enough, it gets dark enough for us to light a fire.

"I swear Bella, you're going to love this!" Mike says, a bit too eager to show me the color of burning driftwood. Jessica is less than pleased. I don't have the heart to tell him that I have seen more than enough of these fires during my many trips here with Charlie and Jacob. Still, he can't take a hint.

To Mike's defense, the burning wood _is _actually pretty. Watching the blue-green flames lick at the wood is almost hypnotic. The fire illuminates everyone's faces as we sit around it, some warming themselves up, some roasting hotdogs and the rest just enjoying the view.

I'm startled out of the flame-induced trance when I hear the sound of multiple footsteps making their way to us. I look up and see Jacob and his friends approaching and a smile makes its way to my face.

"Bella!" Jake says with a smile as he comes to sit next to me. Mike, who had been grabbing more hot dogs, glares when he sees that his spot's been taken.

"Hey Jake, been a while. Where have you been hiding?"

"Ah, you know how it is. Billy's been keeping me busy around the house. Is that truck dead yet?"

"Yes actually," I chuckle. "It died a few weeks ago and I thought about bringing it to you but I have no idea how."

"Hello," comes a deep voice from our left. "I hope you guys don't mind if we join you." Behind the huge guy who spoke there's three others standing there, all of them tall and buff-looking. It's weird because they look old enough to be out of college, way too old to be hanging out with us.

"Not at all dude," Tyler says, eager to please. "Come on and grab a seat."

"Tyler!" Jessica hisses at him, smacking his arm.

"Relax," he mumbles, reaching for some sodas. "Here you go guys," he tosses each of them a coke.

They all sit together, their faces hard as they glance at me and Jake.

"Geez those guys creep me out," Jake whispers to me.

"I know what you mean," I mutter back.

"Try having them stalk you everywhere you go. Especially that Sam guy," the guy Jake points to looks away as if he knows we're talking about him. "He keeps giving me these weird looks, as if he's waiting for something. And he treats me all special like I saved his life or something."

"Did you tell Billy? Maybe he can talk to Sam and make him stop."

"Are you kidding? He won't listen. Sam walks around the reservation like he owns the place and everyone lets him. Especially Billy."

I immediately hate this Sam guy for bugging Jake. He's like a brother to me and whoever messes with him is messing with me too.

"Don't worry Jake. If he gets any worse I'll tell Charlie. He seems like a creep and I don't want him to try anything." Jake nods absently, looking at the fire.

We eat a few hotdogs before the mindless chatter around us gets too loud.

"Hey, do you want to take a walk?" I ask, turning to Jake.

"Sure."

As we get up, I notice Sam's eyes following us and narrowing and I walk a bit closer to Jake.

"So, anything interesting going on?" Jake asks.

"Interesting how?"

"I dunno. Any new students? Any scandalous love triangles?"

"Scandalous love triangles?"

"Hey, you gotta keep you talking in this weather, or your vocal cords will freeze over." I chuckled. I've actually been running a constant fever lately so I doubt that would happen.

"Well, I don't know about any triangles, but there are some new students. They moved here from Alaska, and their dad's a doctor."

"Really? What are they like?"

"They're all pretty nice actually. I had a sleepover with one of them yesterday actually. That's where I was before coming here."

"Cool. Alaska, huh? It's pretty cold out there. I don't know why anyone in their right mind would want to live there."

"Well Alice is pretty nice," I'm glad the darkness hides my blush. "I guess they don't exactly fit the norm when you think about it. I mean, they usually keep to themselves. And they're all really pale and cold kinda."

"Pale and cold huh? Sounds like our enemy tribe from the legends."

"Enemy tribe?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? Dad used to tell us these stories all the time; but I guess you would have forgotten. It's been a while since he told them while you were around."

"Well, I've got time," I say, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"I'm not as good at telling the stories as dad is, but I'll try anyway." He pauses to clear his throat dramatically. "There are some stories about where our tribe—the Quileutes —comes from. The legend says we descended from wolves, and that wolves are our brothers by heart. It's against the tribal law to kill them.

"Then there are also stories about the _cold ones," _he says, his voice almost down to a whisper. "You might better know them as vampires, blood drinkers. The stories of them are almost as old as the wolf legends, and there are some more recent. The legends say that my great-grandfather knew some of them; he's the one who agreed to make a treaty with them that keeps them off our land."

"Your great-grandfather?"

"He was a tribal elder, so is my father...so I will be. The cold ones are our natural enemies, the natural enemies of the wolves—wolves that turn into men, that is. We call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one."

I stare at him, shivering slightly from the cold as he speaks. Bits and pieces of the stories Billy used to tell come back to me as I listen.

"The cold ones are our enemies, but the pack that came on our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They did not hunt the way others of their kind did—they said they weren't dangerous. My great-grandfather made a truce with them; if they promised to stay off our lands, we would not reveal what they were...to the pale-faces," he finishes, winking at me. "Not that you're that pale, of course, you seem to have soaked up a lot of vitamin D since the last time I saw you."

"If they're not dangerous, they why was there a need for a treaty?"

"There is always a risk for humans when they are around the cold ones; even with this civil clan. You never know when their thirst could become too much for them."

"Civil?"

"They claimed not to hunt humans, only animals—it turned their eyes gold. Like I said though, there's always a risk."

"How were you able to tell the cold ones apart from the humans then?"

"Several things. The most potent is their smell; it burns our noses, so we know when they're nearby. Then, of course, it's how they feed; they drink blood, live on it like parasites. Lastly there's their physical appearance; they're pale, they either have red or golden eyes, and they look very attractive—supposedly to lure in their human prey. I suppose that would be useless for the Cullens though."

"The Cullens? Why?"

"They're like the cold ones from our legends—no, scratch that. They _are _the cold ones from our legends." The look on my face gives away my shock. "They say that we will know when they decide to come back; that the wolves within us will know. I don't know if they're back or not though, maybe it doesn't work for me."

I'm unable to utter a word, still trying to process the fact that the Cullens are apparently 'cold ones'—vampires—from the Quileute legends.

"Relax Bells," Jake says. "It's just a story, I don't even believe it myself."

"Well you should."

We both turn our heads, and Sam and his friends standing there.

"What do you want Sam?" Jacob asks, not hiding his irritation.

"I just came to see how you two are doing. You spent an awful lot of time over here, I was beginning to get worried."

Jacob snorts, turning away from them to look back at the waves. Sam then turns to me.

"Hi, I'm Sam," he says, extending his hand. "These are my friends Paul and Jared. Who are you?"

"Bella Swan," I mutter, shaking his hand then quickly pulling away.

"As in Charlie Swan?"

"Hey, Bella, we gotta go now..." Jessica trails off, noticing once she got nearer that Sam and his 'friends'. I turn to her, ignoring Sam completely and stand up off the fallen tree Jake and I had sat on.

"See you later Jake. And let me know if anything happens, okay?" I tell him, eyeing Sam suspiciously.

"Sure thing Bells. Let me walk you to your car."

We walk a bit in silence with Jessica walking ahead of us when I finally decide to ask.

"Hey Jake, how's Leah doing?"

He sighs deeply. "She's started hanging out with Sam and those guys last month. She goes everywhere with them. I'm actually surprised she didn't show up here today."

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm pretty sure I don't like the idea of Leah being anywhere near Sam. He just seems to scream bad news.

We get to Angela's car and I say goodbye to Jake and lean against the car door, waiting for Angela to show up.

"Oh, Bella! I was just looking for you," Angela says as she walks up.

"Sorry, I got caught up talking to Jake," I explain.

She drops me off at home, wishing me a good weekend, and then drives off. I waste no time getting to bed, and I'm out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow.

* * *

**A/N: Sam's being a creeper, but what can you do :P R&R**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: One of my longest chapters yet. This, ladies and gents, is where the action begins.**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Ten_

**BPOV**

Monday rolls around eventually and I find myself eager to reach school for more reasons than one. First, I want to see if what Jacob says about the Cullens is true. I'm not sure how much I can prove it without outright asking them, but I'm pretty sure that might not be the best course of action. Second, I know the bigger part of why I'm so excited to get to school is so I can see Alice. I might as well admit to myself that I have a crush on her - who wouldn't. Denial is overrated anyway.

I walk outside and find my bike waiting for me in the driveway. I seriously need to thank Rosalie since otherwise I'd be walking nearly two miles to school. I reach into my backpack and grab my keys before putting my helmet on and mounting the bike. When I turn the key in the ignition, the engine makes significantly less noise than it used to before Rosalie fixed it. She must've done more work on it than she told me.

I manage to get to school in record time since I can now push the bike way above 80. My previous anxiety with fast speeds seems to have abated quite a bit. That, and my balance on the bike also seems much better than before. There are less looks from other students as I pull in than when I first rode in on my bike.

I spot Alice talking to Jasper near the parking lot and I feel a smile spread across my face at the sight of her. Geez, I'm getting cheesy already. I park my bike next to her car and walk over to them with my helmet tucked under my arm and my keys twirling around my finger.

"Hey Bella!" Alice greets with a giddy bounce on her toes. I try not to stare at the way her breasts bounce in time with her movement.

"Um…h-hey." Ugh, how can I not stare when she's doing that?

Jasper coughs and clears his throat conspicuously and raises his eyebrows at me knowingly when I meet his gaze. I blush at being caught and adjust my grip on the helmet nervously.

"You've grown again," Alice comments with an adorable pout on her sexy lips.

"Must be something in the water…well, _my_ water anyway," I tease, eyeing her small frame. She narrows her eyes at me and sticks her tongue out. Jasper tries not to laugh but lets out a small chuckle that refused to be suppressed. Alice's glare turns to him and he stops immediately, excusing himself to get to class.

"The bell's gonna ring soon, better get in there," Alice says.

I can't resist, "That's what she said."

Alice rolls her eyes. "You're sick Bella."

"You know you like it," I tease.

She once again lets her eyes travel up and down my taller frame with a confused expression. "I'll see you at lunch."

I wave a bit too late, distracted by her smile at me before she leaves. _I really need to stop thinking like a creeper. _I shake my head and make my way to class, passing by my locker to dump my helmet. Classes pass by sluggishly and I barely take notes as I go back to thinking about my conversation with Jacob on Saturday. I guess I'll check during lunch.

I catch up with Alice before she makes it to the cafeteria, hooking my arm around her elbow and steering her toward the library.

"Hello to you too," Alice says with a chuckle.

"Sorry, I just need to talk to you about something," I say with a weak smile. I see a hint of worry in her eyes as I hold the library door open for her to enter.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asks with a smooth voice, contrasting with anxiety showing in her nervous hands.

"I met up with a friend of mine over the weekend - Jacob - and he kinda told me something about you. Well, you as in your family."

"Oh. What did he tell you exactly?" I pull out a chair and gesture for her to sit. She sits and looks at me with a mix of impatience and dread.

"Well, it was really just some old tribe legends. Nothing concrete. I'll just come out and ask you because I'm not good with this whole 'beating around the bush' thing."

She nods and I run a hand through my hair nervously.

"Are you a vampire?" _Okay, maybe I could have been a bit more tactful._

She doesn't react for a moment and I start to feel nervous under her unwavering gaze.

"So uh…are you?" What do you do when you ask your crush if she's a blood drinking vampire? There's no generally accepted protocol for this.

"Who's your friend again?" she asks, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Jake. I mean Jacob. Jacob Black. He lives down on the reservation. Is he right? Are you vampires?"

"They broke the treaty," Alice mutters, now glaring angrily at the table between us.

"What treaty? Who's they?"

Alice sighs and loosens her clenched fists. "How about you come by after school today? I can explain everything to you then but I can't do it without my family there. This involves them too."

Well if that wasn't a confirmation, I don't know what is.

"Sure, I'll follow your car over."

* * *

"So you guys were here fifty years ago? Isn't it weird to see some of the people you were in high school with now adults?"

They all share confused looks and Rosalie shakes her head. "Of all things to ask that's what you pick?" I shrug and grin at her.

"So what do you think Bella?" Carlisle asks.

I look from one pair of golden eyes to the next. Each of them with the same anxious look in them. The last pair is Alice's and I hold her gaze the longest.

"Well, since I know I won't be turned into a snack pack or anything, I'm good," I say with a smile.

They all visibly relax, and Emmett lets out an audible sigh of relief.

"Well I was thinking about it, but I guess I won't now," he says with a wink at me before pulling me into a hug. I laugh and hug him back.

"Ignore Emmett Bella," Esme says warmly as she comes closer. "His humor is a bit…off." I hug her as well and share nods with rest. "Well, are you hungry Bella?"

"Actually, I better be heading back. It's almost dark and I don't want to be out on the road too late. Charlie would kill me."

"I can give you a ride back if you want," Alice offers. "You live pretty far and you probably shouldn't be riding on your own this late anyway."

"Nah, I don't want to be trouble. You guys chill and I dunno, do vampire stuff. I'll be fine."

Alice seems reluctant to let me go on my own, but eventually I'm on my way out the door with a promise to be back again soon.

Jacob made it seem like they pounce on anything with a heartbeat and are heartless monsters but I could never think of the Cullens that way. They're all so sweet, especially Esme. Who could ever think of her as a monster?

I quickly hop onto my bike and start it up with shivery hands. The cold always gets worse as the night sets. With one last wave at Alice who's standing in the doorway, I set off down the long dirt road that leads me back to the main road.

I start regretting not bringing a jacket with me as the shivering increases once I pick up speed. It hasn't rained since morning but the road is still slightly slick, making me more careful.

I squint into the darkness beyond my headlights and curse myself for not leaving when there was more daylight. Seemingly out of nowhere, a woman appears on the road in front of me. I quickly swerve out of the way off the road to avoid crashing into her. My front wheel hits a rock that I notice too late and topples my bike over, sending me flying a few feet away from my bike.

I groan and feel pain radiating from my right leg. I struggle to get up and see the red haired woman slowly making her way closer to me.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea how close I came to running you over?!" I only have time to see her gleaming smile when she walks into the light cast by my headlights before she suddenly rushes past me faster than my eyes can follow.

I'm thrown off balance by the slight gust of wind and suddenly my heart starts racing. Heat spreads through me like I've been thrown into a sauna and I start hyperventilating.

Out of nowhere, I'm thrown into the forest behind me and into a tree that my back collides with roughly, knocking the wind out of me as I slide to the ground. I gasp anxiously, trying to get air back into my lungs when my limbs start trembling violently.

When I finally get my breathing under control, I call out a shaky "Who's there?", unable to get back on my feet.

The woman from before appears in front of me again and holds me up against the tree by my neck, applying pressure. The trembling increases and I feel as if the heat spreading through me will make me burst from the inside out. Her red hair moves out of her face enough for me to see the blood red color of her eyes and I gasp.

"Vampire," I whisper under my breath. Just my luck; the day I find out about vampires I end up dying at the hands of one.

Her eyes widen in shock and she growls. "What do you know about vampires?" she hisses, her hand tightening further around my neck.

As soon as I hear her voice, the fire inside me turns into a full-blown inferno and my leg shoots out on its own, kicking the woman away from me. My vision gets hazy as I fall to the ground and I cry out as I start to feel incredible pain from all over my body. It's as if my bones are being broken one by one and eventually the pain becomes too much and I black out.

* * *

**A/N: Any ideas about what's happening to Bella? Reviews are welcome :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Left you guys with a bit of a cliffy there :P I won't keep you waiting any longer, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Eleven_

**BPOV**

When I open my eyes, I'm blinded by brightness and I quickly close them again only to squint open as I try to take in my surroundings. I notice the trees around me, and there's no sign of anyone else. Besides a splitting headache, I don't think anything else is wrong with me.

Suddenly, I remember the woman I saw before I passed out and my eyes widen in fear. I quickly jump up, my tail sticking straight up, and look around for any...signs...of…

_TAIL?!_

My eyes widen further and I quickly turn my head to look behind me, but I can only catch a glimpse of it. I uselessly keep turning around and around until I realize how I must look doing that. It's then that I become aware of more than just the furry appendage sticking out of my butt.

I swallow loudly when I notice something else that really should have been the first thing I saw - my nose. I bring my hand up to touch it, only to notice the huge shaggy paw that was once my hand.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I start backing away aimlessly and only stop when I bump into a tree, cowering against it as I let out a whine. _What the heck happened to me?_

I try not to freak out too much but that's kinda hard when you suddenly wake up and you're standing on four legs and have fur all over your body. I decide to find my way to the road so I can go home. Then again, seeing me like this will probably freak Charlie out and he'd most likely shoot tranquilizers at me than welcome me home with a hug. How long have I been out anyway?

I decide to go to the Cullens' since they're the most likely to not freak out. Weird understands weird, right? I just hoped they wouldn't mistake me for food and try to take a chunk out of me. As soon as that thought enters my mind, I start thinking about Alice and I quickly set off on trying to get my bearings.

Before I do, I catch a tantalizing scent and all thoughts leave my brain except an almost primal need to feed. A feral growl leaves my lips and after a few minutes, reason returns to me and I find myself standing in front of a dead dear with only it's head intact and a broken ribcage surrounded by a pool of blood. When I realize what just happened, I expect to feel the need to throw up since I've always been queasy around blood but surprisingly, nothing but a quiet burp escapes me.

It's probably an hour or so when I finally break the line of trees and find myself on the main road. I jog over to the spot where my bike had toppled over but I find it gone. I pick up the same scent that the red haired woman had and the same growl that I had emitted earlier surfaces again. I don't let it distract me from my task however - finding the Cullens.

I break into a run over to the turn off that leads into their driveway and I run up all the way till I'm standing on their front yard. I pick up several potent scents in the area around their house. I can almost figure out which scent belongs to which Cullen. Alice's is the best of all of them and I feel warmth spread through me when I smell it. I can't help but think of the negative side of having such a keen sense of smell though. What if someone farts while I'm in the vicinity? That would be nasty. _Focus Bella._

I shake my head before slow making my way closer to the door. It opens before I get too close and I see Jasper standing in the doorway.

"Wolf!" he growls, and suddenly he's surrounded by his entire family. Carlisle is standing in front of everyone else and he and Esme are the only ones who aren't barely containing their growls. I whimper when I see that Alice is also growling and I duck my head away from her gaze, my tail curling against my body.

"Please relax, all of you," Carlisle tells them. "I want to avoid a confrontation if possible." By then, it's only Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper who are still growling. Alice and Edward seem to be having a silent conversation.

"Did Sam send you?" Esme asks softly. I growl at hearing Sam's name. Like I would do anything for that creep. My growl is taken the wrong way apparently because suddenly Emmett's growl becomes louder. I whimper again and curse my inability to speak.

"Could you please change back so we can talk properly?" I look at Carlisle with a confused expression and cock my head to the side. "Aren't you one of the Quileutes?" I roll my eyes and shake my head. Since when was I ever from the reservation?

I hear Alice gasp and suddenly and I look up to find her staring at me with wide eyes. As soon as I look into her eyes, I feel an odd but comforting feeling spread through my body and suddenly I feel as if I can't get close enough to her.

"Bella?" she whispers uncertainly. I step closer and my tail uncurls itself and starts wagging gently. My eyes remain trained on hers and I can't look away even if I want to. She pushes past Edward and Jasper who were standing just slightly in front of her and suddenly she's buried under my fur, hugging me with her arms around my neck. I purr and curl myself around her, my head hanging over her shoulder and my paw moving around to pull her closer to me. She giggles at my purring and that only makes me purr louder and causes my tail to wag harder.

"Bella?" "That's Bella?" "Shit…" "Did Jasper just say 'shit'?" I ignore the others' reactions and focus only on Alice and how good it feels to be in her arms again.

"I was so scared for you," Alice whispers against my neck. I feel another warm feeling spread through me and suddenly when I look at Alice the urge to claim her overtakes me. I realize we're in front of an audience so I throw her over my back and run into the trees, putting her down as soon as we reach flat ground.

A low rumble is in my chest as I nudge her with my nose until she's laying on the ground. I roll her over with my paw and place my nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent deeply. Reason leaves me again like when I smelled the deer before, and before I know it I'm dry humping Alice like a rabbit in heat. I keep my nose against her neck, the rumble turning into a growl as I continue to thrust myself uselessly against Alice's backside.

"Bella," I hear Alice whimper before she moans quietly. Hearing the sound makes my lust increase and I bite her shoulder hard enough to leave a mark without piercing her skin and start humping her faster.

"Bella, s-stop. W-we have to stop," she says, moving her hips back into me in time with my humping. She doesn't seem very unwilling.

I growl in frustration at how ineffective my humping is and it's then that Alice starts wiggling under me and manages to free herself. I almost whimper at the loss of contact but she takes my head into her hands and kisses my muzzle gently.

"Believe me Bella I'd love for us to continue, but I don't want my first time with you to be in my backyard with my entire family listening in." It's then that I hear a few snickers coming from inside the house and I growl threateningly. "It's okay Bella, soon. I promise. I can't keep my hands to myself for very long," she winks.

We spend the next hour or so figuring out how to change me back and by the time we get it I'm exhausted and starving. I wear some of Edward's shorts and a shirt from Rosalie that doesn't completely cover my midriff.

After I devour some sandwiches that Esme makes for me, Alice drives me home after letting me know that Charlie has been worried sick ever since they found my bike on the side of the road. She pulls over on the curb next to my house and turns her engine of and we sit in silence for a while.

A blush makes its way to my cheeks before I start speaking. "I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what came over me."

Alice smiles and takes my hand in hers. "It's okay, I've heard that newborn wolves can be a bit unpredictable."

"Yeah, but I basically attacked you back there. In front of your family! You must think I'm a complete animal."

"Well technically, you've got this wolf-slash-human thing going on," she says with a teasing smile, "but I really don't mind Bella. I'm just curious about your feelings for me."

My blush intensifies and I stammer for a while until she decides to take me out of my misery and places a gentle kiss to my lips. I kiss her back just as softly and we stay like that with no other sound except our lips moving together until I need to breathe again.

"You better head inside," Alice murmurs against my lips after we pull away.

I nod and kiss her one more time before opening the door and stepping outside her car. I'm about to close the door when I stop and think to ask her, "Um, Alice? What exactly are we?"

She smiles, "Whatever you want us to be."

She must've noticed the confused look on my face because she laughs softly.

"You're mine," she says with a shy smile. "My girlfriend if you want."

I smile back and whisper a quiet "sure" before closing the door and watching her drive back the way we came.

As soon as I reach for the house key under the welcome mat, the door is abruptly pulled open and I look up to see Charlie standing there looking like he hadn't slept for three days.

"Bella?" he says before pulling me into a bone crushing hug. "I was so worried."

"Sorry dad," I whisper, feeling horrible for having him so worried.

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're back in one piece. You're grounded until college, understood?"

The fierce look in his eyes stops me from making a joke and I nod. "Yes sir."

He'll forget it by morning I'm sure.

* * *

**A/N: Woot! Bella's okay! Grounded, but okay :D R&R And some progress in her relationship with Alice, that's always good ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Woo! Another long one :) Enjoy my loves.**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Twelve_

**BPOV**

Turns out Charlie didn't forget. I've been grounded for two weeks so far and he's adamant to remain firm on the topic.

On the positive side, Alice and I had been getting much closer since the dry humping incident and for that I was eternally grateful. Angela greeted me with a fierce hug and demanded an explanation for my two day absence from school. I couldn't tell her the truth but I did tell her about what had developed between Alice and me. She had gushed happily and congratulated me on finally having the guts to make a move. She was slightly peeved about me missing school for two days just to be with Alice - the not-so-little white lie I had told her about where I had been - but after I explained that it was really because I had hurt myself and Carlisle was looking me over she went right back to gushing excitedly.

The news about Alice and I spreads quickly, probably because we aren't trying to hide our relationship from anyone and the looks we received were mostly jealous ones, though there was the odd judgmental look every now and again. I don't care what anyone thinks though, they're not the ones dating Alice freaking Cullen. Most of the people don't even look at us more than before since Alice and I were always close around school anyway.

Because Forks is such a small town, I decide to tell Charlie about Alice and I myself before he finds out some twisted version of the truth through the grapevine. He barely reacts when I tell him since he had already once thought I was dating her, and now that I actually am there's no difference.

After the Cullens hear my side of what happened during those two days, it turns out that the woman who attacked me was a vampire they've been having trouble with in the area for a long time already. I find out at the same time that that's the 'Victoria' I often hear Alice mentioning in her phone conversations and had briefly gotten jealous over. They've been after her ever since their first stay in Forks years ago and she somehow ended up in the same area as them again.

The fact that she almost killed me makes Alice ballistic and for a moment I actually feel a hint of fear before becoming incredibly turned on. She's so sexy when she's angry.

Things more or less settle down though after that incident, and now - nearly two weeks after - Alice and I have fallen back into our routine. Some days she picks me up and we drive to school in her car, and other times Edward would drive by my house and drop her off on their way to school and Alice and I follow after a while with her sitting behind me on my bike. She refuses to wear a helmet though, complaining about getting helmet hair. I guess she wouldn't actually get hurt in a collision either way though.

"Swan!" I jump up in my seat and the pen I had been twirling around my fingers falls to the ground noisily.

Señora Hernandez has a look of irritation on her face and is looking at me expectantly.

"Antonio Gaudi," Jasper whispers quietly into my ear.

I clear my throat. "Antonio Gaudi, señora."

She grunts with irritation. "Escuchen, por favor," she mutters before turning back to the projector displaying pictures of gothic cathedrals in Barcelona.

"Thanks," I whisper to Jasper. He nods and turns back to the board. He has probably learned all of this before anyway, so why even bother paying attention? Last I checked vampires have an impeccable memory.

I spend the rest of the lesson planning the details of my date with Alice for this Friday. I haven't asked her yet and I'm counting on her saying yes because it's already Wednesday and Edward and Rosalie have been helping me with figuring out what kind of date Alice would enjoy. I just need to find out what kind of movies she likes. I decide to ask her during lunch.

Edward turned out to actually not be all that bad after I found out they're vampires. Apparently his frustration with my was only because his mind reading didn't work on me and I'm the only person that's ever happened with. I'm glad when I hear that because I'd hate having someone picking my brain all the time. We've actually become close after all the weirdness was sorted out.

While Jasper and I are walking to the cafeteria, Angela catches up with us and loops her arm with mine.

"Hey, Jasper," she greets before pulling me toward the lunch line. "Want to sit with us today? Alice can too if she wants"

"Sure," I say, grabbing a soda and three slices of pizza. Alice walks into the cafeteria and I wave her over to the table where Ben and Eric are already sitting.

Alice takes a seat on my left side with Eric on her left and toys with her fruit salad until I'm with my pizza so I can eat the salad for her.

Jessica and Lauren arrive shortly after, and Jessica forces a chair between me and Angela and leans close to me.

"Hi Bella," she says in a breathy voice.

"Uh…hey Jessica. What's up?"

She giggles with a bit too much enthusiasm "Nothing, as usual!" I try to ignore how she touches me more than is necessary all throughout lunch, but I can tell it's starting to get to Alice so I decide to bring up our date.

"Hey Alice," I start, pulling my arm away from Jessica and scooting my chair closer to Alice's. "What kind of movies do you like?"

She looks away from Jessica to answer me, but the jealousy is still in her voice. "Romantic comedies I guess."

"Ugh, those are for stupid old ladies."

Angela snorts. "Jealous much Mike?"

"I'm not jealous," he mutters, pulling a face at her. How flattering.

"What do you say to going out with me on Friday to see one? Among other things."

She looks surprised, and then regards me with a curious smile before nodding. "Yeah, sounds like fun."

"Good," I whisper, leaning into her some more to make Jessica see that I was very happily taken.

"Great," she whispers back with a grin, giving me a slow kiss that lasted longer than necessary - probably for Jessica's sake. I'm not complaining. "I'm not very used to being taken by surprise," she says quietly so only I can hear, "but sometimes it's nice to not know everything," she grins. Apparently, Alice's power also doesn't work on me very well, though I don't completely block her like the wolves in La Push.

The subject of there being other wolves in La Push intrigued me greatly and I always want to meet them so everything that's happening to me won't seem so weird and unexpected. Some guidance would definitely be nice. I haven't been able to broach the subject yet and from what I've observed there's some hostility between Alice's family and the aforementioned wolves, so getting them to help me might not be so easy. Jacob invited me to go cliff jumping on Sunday though, so that might be my opportunity to get the answers and help that I need.

Alice wasn't very happy when she found out that I was going there but she relented, not stopping me from going using her ownership over me both as my girlfriend and since I was technically still her slave for life.

The rest of the day's classes fly by and Gym is once again a breeze, which I've found out is because of me turning into a wolf.

In the locker rooms, I quickly open my locker and pull my sweaty shirt and sports bra off, tossing them on the bench next to me. I turn to Alice to find her tossing her sports bra aside and now working on her shorts and I'm unable to look away. She pulls them down her legs, bending at the waist to get them off her feet and remove her shoes. My breath catches and heat rises up to my face when she removes her underwear next and pulls on her skirt without anything underneath.

By the time she's done changing, I'm nearly hyperventilating and I don't realize that I've barely done anything myself until she turns around and her mouth falls open a little when she sees that I'm shirtless. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I quickly finish changing and then Alice and I head to her car.

She drives me home and stays until Charlie arrives from work - he doesn't mind her coming over even though I'm grounded because he has a soft spot for her. At my needy request, after Alice 'leaves', she often climbs back through my window after returning her car home and stays with me until morning. She says she doesn't mind, and when she told me it was because she enjoyed my sleep talking I was embarrassed since many of my dreams recently have involved the two of us in heated situations.

"See you tomorrow Alice," Charlie says from his couch.

"Bye Charlie," she replies as I lead her to the doorway. We share a gentle peck at the door. "See you in a few minutes."

"I'll be here," I say with a smile.

I head back upstairs and check the movie schedule for Friday one more time and make sure there are more than two options for movies I can watch with Alice just in case she feels like watching something non-romantic. Satisfied that everything will go fine, I change out of my clothes and into my sweatshirt and sleep shorts before crawling into bed and waiting for Alice.

When she arrives, she curls up against my back, letting out a contented purr as she snuggles into me. I turn around and wrap my arms around her, sneaking my hand up her shirt and resting it on her back. I love how cool her skin is. She lets out a sigh and her own hand moves up the front of my shirt and rests gently on my breast, not teasing but just there. I use my hand on her back to pull her a bit closer to my body and I soon dose off in her arms.

* * *

**A/N: Any guesses about what Bella has planned for their date? Reviews are welcome :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Chapter 13, and we're just getting warmed up. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Thirteen_

**BPOV**

It's Thursday after school and Alice and I head to her car after being let out late from Gym. I'm glad for my increased body temperature because it's just starting to rain, I would've caught a cold otherwise. We hurry to Alice's car, not wanting to get wet and quickly sit inside.

When Alice turns her key in the ignition, all we hear is a rumble before the engine stops again. I glance over at the space behind the steering wheel and see the fuel icon flashing, and the dial pointing at 'Empty'.

"Are you kidding me?" Alice says frustrated.

"Let's just go with your siblings," I suggest. "Emmett can collect it later."

"That's a great plan, except they've already left." I look over at their usual parking space and true enough, they're gone.

"Well it's never too late to walk," I say. "It's not like either of us will be affected by the rain anyway, we don't get sick."

Alice sighs, "But what about my clothes?"

"You can just wash them afterwards love." She sighs and nods before we leave the car. She locks it before we slowly start to trudge home.

"Stop for a second Bella," Alice says and I do. She leans down to take off her shoes and puts them in her gym bag. "Here, hold this." I give her a quizzical look and take the bag. She ignores me and moves behind me, using my shoulders to pull herself onto my back.

"Alice?"

"You may walk now."

"And I'll let you do this why?"

"Slave for life? Ring any bells? I don't want to damage my shoes," she says, sticking her feet out in front of me and wiggling her cute little toes. I resign and hang a set of bags on each arm before resting my hands under Alice's thighs to hold her up. "Besides, you wouldn't let me walk to your place barefoot would you?"

"You could just wear your trainers you know," I tell her.

"With this outfit? I don't think so. Besides, why pass up a chance to exercise my power over you?"

"Why indeed," I murmur. She rests her head on my shoulder and wraps her arms lightly around my neck.

Her phone chirps and she bounces excitedly, showing me a picture of me in my wolf form that was taken while she helped me turn back that first time.

"Why do you have that?"

"I've been begging Emmett to give me it for a long time now. He only just sent it. You're so adorable," she coos. "My little hairball."

"Emmett calls me that, but I prefer it coming from you."

"I make everything sound awesome" she says with a grin. I don't argue.

We make it to my house after a few more minutes, and I put Alice down when we reach the porch. I unlock the door but before she goes in, I shake the water out of my hair sending it flying everywhere and Alice shrieks and runs inside. I laugh and chase after her, dropping my bag in the living room next to hers before running up the stairs.

I finally get her cornered in my room and I shut and lock the door, smirking at her as I slowly get closer. She looks around frantically for an escape, but finds none.

"No where to run little stinker." Out of no where, her face transforms into the saddest expression I've ever seen.

"Why are you being so mean?" she asks, pouting a little.

Suddenly I feel horrible and quickly gather her in my arms. "Oh Alice I was only playing around I promise. I'm so sorry." She lets out a tiny sniffle before wrapping her arms around me.

"You're so easy," she speaks in the same voice and at first I don't notice what she said.

"Wait, huh?" She pulls away from me with a mischievous look in her eye, all signs of the pout gone. I realize she was just messing with me and smack her shoulder.

"I can't believe you," I mutter, throwing myself onto the bed.

"Aw, come on. I thought it was kinda funny." I turn my back on her before she can see the tiny hint of a smile playing on my lips. "Bella," she says, her voice dropping a few octaves, "turn around. I know you're smiling."

"No."

"I didn't want to have to do this, but you give me no choice _slave._ As your master - mistress, whatever, I demand that you turn around."

I turn to glare at her, "You're gonna be taking advantage of that, aren't you?"

"You'd best believe it," she says with a grin while she comes over to lay next to me. She snuggles close to me and purrs. "You're really warm." I wrap my arm around her and pull her closer to me.

"I love how cold your skin is. It's not always fun to be running a constant fever."

She laughs gently, her lips ghosting across my collarbone.

"Alice?" I whisper.

"Hmm?" her kisses become firmer, moving to my neck. My breathing becomes shallow and my hands grip the back of her shirt, pulling her closer to me.

"What are you doing?" I don't really care what she's doing, I just don't want her to stop.

"Just a little teasing," she winks at me before capturing my lips with her own.

We kiss for a very long time, our hands lightly groping at each other.

Alice pulls away after a while. "We should probably stop, Charlie might come home soon." I nod, but keep my lips on her skin, kissing her neck and leaving tiny hickeys all along her collarbone. Her hands weave into my hair and the coolness of her fingers against my scalp causes me to shiver. "Come on B, you know I'm right."

With a defeated sigh, I release her skin and sit up on the bed. Alice moves to my lap with her back to me and I wrap my arms around her. She leans into me with a contented sigh and her hands play with mine on her lap. I inhale her scent and a tiny moan escapes me. I feel her body trembling gently and I realize that she's purring again. I can't help but snicker.

"What?" she asks, her voice low and relaxed.

"You're adorable when you purr. It's like having a cat except you don't shed on the furniture."

She turns in my arms to straddle my hips. "You better be careful before you start spewing animal jokes mutt," she says, leaning in to gently peck my lips. "Besides, you're adorable too when you blush." Of course, that sends my face off into an inferno.

"I probably look like an overripe tomato," I mumble, looking down at my bed cover.

She cups my cheeks and pulls my face back up. "Well you're one sexy tomato, I can tell you that."

I chuckle. "Thanks I guess."

"Guess?" I shrug. "Well that just won't do Miss. Swan."

"What do you propose?"

Before she can reply, we hear the door open downstairs and Charlie walks in calling our names. I didn't even hear him pull in.

"I should probably go make noodles or something. Wanna come help?"

"In a minute," she says, moving to my closet. "I have much work to be doing here first."

I roll my eyes, "Just don't throw anything out."

I get out some left over beef from the fridge and heat it up while opening several packs of those 2 minute noodles that Charlie has stocked up on. With me going over to the Cullens' place a lot, he's needed to feed himself more often than usual and that has made him wise up a bit on how to get around the kitchen. He still can't make anything beyond breakfast and noodles though.

"Hey there kid," Charlie says as he walks into the kitchen. "How was school today?"

I shrug. "Oh you know same old same old."

He nods and looks in the fridge for his beer. Little does he know it's now washing down the sewers of Forks. I had replaced all of his cans with root beer instead.

"I could have sworn I stocked up…" he mutters under his breath. I hide my smirk and dump the noodles into the pot of boiling water before closing the lid and glancing at the clock. Two minutes. "Hey Bella, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" I turn to find him holding up a can of root beer like it was a dead rat.

"Oh yeah, I kinda replaced your beer with that instead. Must've forgotten to mention it." I smile sweetly at him, ignoring his shocked expression as I open the microwave and get the meat out.

"Forgot to mention it?" I shrug.

"Guess so. Hey, do you want beef or chicken with your noodles, because I'm just gonna serve em up with this." His face looks heated up and his eyes are still wide and staring at me with disbelief.

"Bella?!"

"Oh come on dad," I tell him seriously. "You know drinking that stuff everyday is practically like taking a bullet to your kidneys. I don't know about you, but I'd like my kids to know their grandfather and drinking all that beer is helping no one. I almost replaced it all with water but I'd rather not lose you to a heart attack either."

His face is composed again after I say that and he sighs. "Can we at least compromise? Just for now?"

I chuckle and nod, waiting for his proposal.

"Four beers a week," he says, wincing even as the words leave his mouth.

"Make it two and you have yourself a deal."

"_Bella_," he grunts and for a moment it looks like I'm the parent and he's the kid. He must really love that stuff.

"Sorry dad, it's two or nothing. I was serious about that whole kidney thing. Just because I make you eat healthy stuff doesn't mean you can drown yourself in beer to compensate."

His jaw clenches and he turns to glare menacingly at the fridge full of root beer.

"Stupid stuff was becoming more expensive anyway," he mutters. "Fine. Two. But don't think this whole 'Bella making rules' thing can become a habit. I'm still your father." He looks a bit wounded from losing his beers, but I'm glad he's at least trying.

I move to hug him tightly, and kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

He nods gruffly and hugs me back in his awkward Charlie way. I go back to the task of fixing our dinner when Alice finally makes her way downstairs.

"Hi Charlie!" she says, kissing his cheek before hopping onto the counter next to where I'm tending to the noodles. Stupid pack says two minutes but it's been 5 already and they're still not done.

"Hey Alice," he chuckles. "I'm starting to feel like you're in this house more often than I am." If only he knew…

Alice grins and shrugs. "I just can't seem to stay away from your daughter for too long." I catch her eye and she winks at me.

"As long as your parents don't mind you being away from home so often. How are Carlisle and Esme doing anyway?"

"Oh they're fine. Just doing what parents do." Charlie nods before taking a seat at the kitchen table. Oh no.

"Uh, you can go and watch TV dad. I'll bring you the food when it's done."

"Oh no, I'll stay right here. It's been a while since we've all gotten to chat," he grins at me.

I glare at him as hard as I can - he knows what he's doing. Probably payback for the beer thing.

"So Alice," he begins, "I sure hope my daughter's treating you right."

Alice smiles at him. "You don't need to worry about that at all Charlie. She's a charmer and a sweetheart. I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend." The love I see shining in her eyes makes me blush and duck my head, staring at the noodles as I continue to stir them.

"She got that from her mother," he says fondly, getting that look in his eyes that he always gets whenever he thinks of mom.

Alice looks curious, but I shake my head discreetly at her. _Later_ I mouth to her. She nods.

"Give yourself more credit old man," I say with a pat on his shoulder as I move past him to get the plates out. "You've done a pretty good job with me."

"Well that's true," he says, his smile making his eyes crinkle. "Except when it comes to neatness of course. Half the time I don't know if I'm living with a human being or a wolf." I nearly drop the plates when he says that but quickly compose myself before he notices.

"You're one to talk dad. Need I remind you where I found your spare uniform yesterday after two weeks of searching?"

His eyes narrow at me, and he mutters, "Not a word."

Alice chuckles before speaking up. "I better head back. It's getting pretty late and all."

"NO!" I yell before composing myself. "I mean um…it's dark and all, and I think it's best if you just spend the night."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Bella on this one Alice. I'd rather not have you driving on your own at this time." He doesn't know she's a vampire, but that doesn't mean I want her out there either.

Alice nods, "Sure, let me just call my parents and let them know." Our eyes meet and she gives me a seductive wink which causes my cheeks to heat up full blast. I swallow audibly before setting the plates on the table.

"Now now you two," Charlie says, gesturing between Alice and I. "Just because Alice is a girl doesn't mean I won't be paying attention. I'd rather not have my baby girl and her girlfriend waking me up in the middle of the night."

I clench my jaw and start straining the noodles to get rid of the water.

"Don't worry Chief, we'll behave." _Liar_, I want to whisper to Alice but I refrain.

Charlie notices I've only set up two plates and gets curious.

"Aren't you eating Alice?"

"No, not really. I'm not hungry."

Charlie shakes his head disapprovingly. "You always say that. I'm starting to worry about you. Bella, fix her a plate."

"Honest Charlie, I ate just a while ago."

"What would your father say if he saw you?"

"He knows I don't eat much-"

"Oh none of that." I shoot Alice an apologetic look before getting out a third plate. "Make sure you fill it up Bells."

Alice's eyes widen at seeing the mountain of beef and noodles on her plate.

We all sit at the table and Charlie and I dig in immediately. I'm sitting next to Alice, my plate fuller than hers and Charlie's put together probably. Charlie notices but doesn't say anything.

Alice hesitantly lifts her fork to the small mountain on her plate. She pokes it like one would a dead animal carcass and she looks like she's going to throw up the moment the food touches her lips. Suddenly, I get an idea.

"Hey Charlie, could you pass me the salt shaker behind you?" While Charlie's back is turned, Alice quickly empties some of her food onto my plate.

Charlie hands the shaker to me and I just put it on the table in front of me. He gives me a strange look before turning to Alice.

"Wow Alice, you're really wolfing that down." Alice hums in agreement with a strained smile on her face and I can't help but snort. I feel something squash my foot under the table.

"Ow!"

"What?" Charlie asks, turning to me.

"Stubbed my toe," I mutter glaring at Alice. Charlie doesn't notice how Alice's body shakes with silent laughter.

Dinner ends too soon for my liking, and after having seconds - thirds really since I ate Alice's food as well - I'm finally feeling full. I get up to do the dishes but Charlie waves me off.

"No kid, go watch TV with Alice or something, I'll take care of the dishes tonight."

"Thanks dad," I grin, grabbing Alice's hand and pulling her up to my room.

"That was horrible!" she cries, throwing herself on my bed.

"Oh come on. You only had one forkful."

"One forkful that's going to have to come back up at some point. I should probably wait until Charlie's asleep. He'll think I have some sort of eating disorder if he sees me throwing up."

"Probably."

I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth to get the food taste out of my mouth for Alice's sake. She probably won't appreciate the taste of food in my mouth when we kiss.

When I get back, I quickly change into my sweatshirt and sleep shorts, tossing the dirty clothes into my hamper. When I turn to face Alice, I see her staring intently at me - certain areas especially.

"Oh, sorry. I probably should've changed in the bathroom of something."

"Oh no, I don't mind at all." I chuckle at her handing her one of my old shirts and a pair of shorts to change into before getting into bed and patting the space beside me. She gets changed in less than five seconds - a definite perk of being a vampire - and joins me on my bed, snuggling into me as I start to dose off.

* * *

**A/N: A glimpse into Bella's relationship with her dad. More will be revealed about her mom soon :) Reviews are appreciated.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: It's date night! Let's mock it like it's hot :D**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Fourteen_

**BPOV**

It's 6 o'clock Friday and I'm officially preparing for my date with Alice. Rosalie is in my room, picking out an outfit for me to wear while I fix my hair up in the bathroom mirror. My stomach is doing nervous flips the entire time. I haven't given her any details about the date so she's still in the dark except for knowing that we're going to watch a movie. She doesn't know that that's not all I plan on doing.

"Are you ready yet Bells?" Charlie calls from downstairs. He hasn't been up here since Rosalie arrived. I think being around such a beautiful person and yet knowing she's a minor makes him uncomfortable. Of course, he doesn't need to know that Rosalie is old enough to be his mother and then some.

"Almost, just finishing off my hair."

I walked back to my room and put on the clothes that Rosalie has laid out for me. I don't recognize the pants, and it's then that I notice the clothing store paper bag in my trashcan. There's no sign of a price tag anywhere, but I'm sure I'll find some way of repaying her. Once I'm dressed and ready to go, Rose and I head downstairs and toward the door.

"Wow Bells, you clean up well."

I smile, "Thanks dad."

"You keep it clean tonight, alright?" I blush and don't reply as Rose and I head out to her car.

"See you later Mr. Swan."

"Charlie please. Take care."

We drive in Rose's BMW, my nerves intensifying the closer we get to their house.

She chuckles, "Relax Bella. You act like you're going on a date with the queen of England."

I shake my head with a smile. "Alice is much more important to me than some obsolete queen," I say as I reach up to fix my hair for the tenth time. I was wearing a pair of black jeans with my worn dark grey converse that I had chosen because they didn't add too much to my height. On top, I was wearing a white button up with the sleeves rolled up to expose my forearms that Alice had gotten me as her 'congratulations, you're my girlfriend' gift. That, and a keyring with a picture of a yawning kitten on it because for some reason she always reminds me of a fluffy cat and I always tell her that. It hangs off my bike keys now and I never leave the house without it. I have yet to give her my gift, and I'm planning to do so tonight if the date goes well. I wear a grey fashion vest on top of the shirt to complete the look with my hair falling in large curls down my back and over my shoulders. Even when curled it reaches my shoulder blades.

We pull up to the Cullens' driveway and I step out nervously.

"Go get her Wolfgirl," Rose says with a pat on my backside before she zooms into the house at vampire speed.

My palms are sweating as I knock lightly on the door. When it opens, I see Alice standing there in all her sexy glory.

"Wow," I manage to whisper when I see how she looks.

She's wearing a black dress that hugs her abdomen and flares out a bit at the skirt and just reaches her knees. I look further down and see her wearing the sexiest black heels I've ever seen on anyone and I have to stop myself from drooling like the dog I sorta am. Her hair has been slightly tamed and makes her seem more like an angel than the cute pixie look I had become used to. I'm not sure which look I like more. Around her wrist is a cute little band with her family crest on it.

"You look pretty wow yourself," Alice says, looking me up and down.

"Bring her in here! We want to see her too." I roll my eyes at Emmett's Emmett-ness. When we walk back into the house with my arm around Alice's waist, there are loud catcalls from all of Alice's brothers, Emmett's the loudest.

I roll my eyes and blush, shuffling a bit on my feet.

"Oh stop that you three," Esme says as she walks towards us with a camera in hand. "Smile," she says before snapping several pictures of Alice and I in different poses.

"All this is fun and all, but we really should get going."

"Oh alright. Enjoy your evening girls," Esme says, putting the camera away.

"Yeah, have fun," Emmett says with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

We head out to the garage where we get into Jasper's pickup truck. It's the only one besides Emmett's that can fit my bike in the back. I'm still nervous about my after the movie plans.

When Alice and I arrive in Port Angeles, we still have thirty minutes before the movie starts, and I go and buy the tickets while Alice offers to get the snacks.

"So what movie are we watching?" she asks as I look over the snacks.

"It's this movie that just came out. It's got the chick from Harry Potter in it and it looked good."

"Oooh, I love Emma Watson!" Alice gushes.

I feel an irrational surge of jealousy spread through me. "Is that so?"

Alice giggles. "Come on my jealous little hairball."

The movie turns out to be really good, and I start to relax and stop worrying about how the rest of the date will go and instead start to just enjoy myself. After the movie is over, Alice and I walk out of the theatre with her hanging onto my arm and chatting happily about how great the movie was. I'm happy to just listen to her talk and I find myself smiling at her excitement.

"I really had fun Bella," she says, kissing my cheek.

"Great, because that wasn't even the fun part yet," I say with a grin.

"Where else are we going?" she asks, bouncing a bit on her toes. She really needs to stop doing that because I can't help but stare at hr breasts whenever she does that.

"It's a surprise," I tell her, taking her hand and leading her back to the car.

"Aw come on B, just tell me."

I ignore her and hold the passenger door open. "Hop in."

I drive us back towards Forks, but take a detour before we're completely out of Port Angeles. We reach the end of a road and there's just a footpath that leads into the trees.

"Come on," I tell her, my excitement now rising.

I take down my bike from the back of the truck and help her on before climbing on in front of her. I accidentally drop my keys and reach over to grab them from the ground, only to drop them again with a squeak when Alice gives my backside a playful smack.

When I finally get a hold of them again, I pinch her thigh to get back at her which just makes her snicker and she wraps her arms around my torso as I start the bike.

We ride up along the path for about two minutes before I turn left on a forked intersection.

"Where exactly are we going Bella?"

"You'll see," I tell her, weaving around the rocks and tree roots.

We finally get to the clearing and I turn my bike off, hopping off and then turning to help Alice down as well. We walk over to where Jasper and Edward have set up the area like I asked them to. I owe them big time.

"Oh Bella," Alice whispers, taking in the scene. We're in a small clearing that has a huge boulder taking up nearly a quarter of the space and small river weaving around it and forming a clear pond that's taking up almost as much space as the boulder itself. The clouds are thin tonight, and the reflection of the moon against the pond gives the whole clearing a magical look about it. On the grass beside the pond, there's a thick picnic blanket laid down with a picnic basket of food and a single unlit candle on it.

"Do you like it?" I ask nervously, the hand that's grasping Alice's beginning to sweat despite the coolness of Alice's palm.

She turns to me with unshed tears in her eyes. "Bella I love it!" she exclaims, pulling me into a very tight hug before pulling back to kiss my lips tenderly. "This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

I smile shyly at her and pull her toward the blanket. We sit down facing each other, and I take out all of the food while Alice looks around the clearing again. On the other side of the clearing, a small brown rabbit hops around before spotting us and dashing back to its hiding place.

"Bella I can't believe you did all this."

"I had some help. Jasper and Edward set the blanket up and stuff, I just gave the orders."

"Still, it wouldn't have happened without you, so thank you."

I smile and hand her a thermos. "That's for you."

She looks at me bemusedly and takes it into her hands. I see her eyes darken when she smells the blood inside the thermos.

"What's this?" she asks, her voice slightly strained.

"Mountain lion blood. I heard from Edward that it's your favorite aside from wolf blood, but I felt a bit weird about killing a wolf since technically I'm one as well. So I got you this."

She leans over to kiss me heatedly and grins, "I got over wolf blood a while ago, so this is great."

I smile and take out a lunchbox filled with strawberries. "I figured you'd feel weird just sitting there while I ate, so the idea just came to me. I hope you don't feel weird drinking it in front of me."

"I'm just overwhelmed really. Thank you so much Bella, this is amazing."

We end up sitting with my head on Alice's lap as she slowly feeds me different bits of food while she occasionally sips on the blood.

Alice speaks again after a while. "It's weird. On my own, I'd never be able to be this casual around blood, but you just make me calm somehow and it's like the blood is at the back of my mind."

"How does the whole vampire thing work anyway? I know you told me you guys drink only animal blood, but don't you ever feel tempted by humans?"

"Oh the temptation is there, definitely. Constantly. It's just years of learning to ignore it that helps us. Our desire to not harm innocent humans is what drives us not to go on a frenzy every time someone gets a bruise or a paper cut."

"Does my blood tempt you?"

She sighs before speaking. "For me, yours tempts me more than anyone else's I've ever met. But my love for you is also greater than my love for anyone else, so it balances out and in the end, I could never stand the thought of biting you."

My heartbeat picks up when she says she loves me. "Do you really mean that?"

She nods. "Love for vampires isn't the same as it is for humans. We don't fall in and out of love. It's one time and it's forever. And you're my forever."

She looks kinda nervous as she tells me that, and I sit up and face her.

"Well I'm really glad you feel that way, because I've been dying to tell you that I love you Alice. I just didn't want to freak you out by moving too quickly. The truth is I've loved you for a long time now, and when I turned into a wolf, everything just sorta clicked into place somehow. I'm not really sure how to explain it but I'm pretty sure I can't live without you." This is my first time telling anyone besides my parents that I love them, and my heart hammers in my chest as the feeling spreads all throughout my body.

Alice kisses me again and I kiss her back just as eagerly, the taste of blood in her mouth making the wolf in me rumble greedily. She ends up straddling my lap with her arms around my neck while my hands tease around the edges of her dress. I pull her tighter against me, making her moan quietly against my lips and thrust her hips against me.

We pull away after a few minutes, Alice's dress now riding up all the way to her hip, giving me a delicious glimpse of her sexy red underwear.

"I love you," she whispers with a smile against my lips.

"I love you too."

Suddenly, I remember the small box that I asked Edward to pack at the bottom of the basket and my nerves set in again.

"Want to go for a swim?" Alice asks, nodding towards the water.

"Like this?" I ask, the box momentarily forgotten.

She laughs. "No silly, we'll remove our clothes first. I don't want to ruin this pretty dress."

I blush but nod, and after a few minutes, we're standing in front of each other completely naked. Before my mind goes completely numb, Alice jumps into the water, splashing a bit of water onto me. The cold water breaks me out of my stupor and I follow after her into the water.

I swim my way closer to her and wrap my arms around her body as she does the same. I lean down to capture her lips and at the same time she reaches up, making us bump our noses together.

"Ow fuck," I mutter, rubbing my nose. She giggles and places a gentle kiss on it before moving her lips lower to meet mine. We stay like that for a long while, just kissing and holding tightly onto each other. The gentle motion of the river excites me, and soon my hands start to travel around Alice's body. She smiles against my lips, also letting her hands wander and soon we're groping each other heatedly.

Somehow, my leg finds its way in-between Alice's and when I feel her thigh hit me right between my legs, I moan against her lips, gripping her backside tighter with my hands. I make use of where my own leg is and start to rub it against Alice, feeling her short curls brushing my thigh as she starts slowly riding against it.

Eventually, we pick up speed and are full out humping against each other. It's not long before we're each reach our orgasms, moaning loudly into our kiss.

"Oh god Bella," Alice whimpers against my parted lips.

My legs feel jelly-like and when Alice moves her deliciously cold thigh from between my legs, the feeling of the rushing water against me makes a shiver travel up my spine. We stay in the water for a while until she reaches up to peck my lips gently and starts pulling us toward the edge of the water.

"We should get dressed." I nod silently and we both make our way over to the blanket.

"What time is it?" I ask, pulling my hair up into a messy bun after I'm dressed.

She glances at her watch, "Almost eight. We've got one more hour before you have to get home."

I nod and glance nervously at the basket once again. _It's now or never_. I reach into the basket and pull out the small handmade wooden box.

I clear my throat nervously. "Alice?"

She turns to face me and eyes the horribly made box curiously. "Yeah?" I pat the space next to me and when she sits down I let out a deep breath to calm myself.

"You know how I never got to give you my 'you're my girlfriend' gift?" She nods with an amused smile on her face. "Well, here it is." I hold out the box to her awkwardly and she takes it gently into her hands.

I watch her observe it from the outside for a moment, "Did you make this?"

"The box, yeah," I mumble. "I had extra time in my crafts class so I figured I'd make good use of it. Or, I tried. I suck at making things."

She chuckles and kisses my cheek. "Don't be ridiculous, it's adorable." Finally, she lifts the lid and when she does, a small gasp escapes her.

After a long moment of silence, I finally decide to ask, "So, do you like it?"

She lifts the silver necklace out of the box slowly, her gaze moving to the flat cat shaped pendant hanging from it. She takes it into her hand, gently turning it over to read the engraved text.

_For the only girl I love,_

_Have ever loved,_

_And will ever love_

_-B_

I have that engraving memorized because of how long it took me to get it perfect. Me giving her that necklace strongly depended on her reciprocating my feelings, and now that I know how she feels, I'm a bit more confident giving it to her.

"Oh Bella," she whispers from her spot next to me. She looks up at me, her eyes once again glassy with tears, and the huge smile on her face makes all the doubt leave my head immediately.

She pulls me into a tight hug, being careful not to break my bones. She gives me a passionate kiss, her hands on either side of my face and mine holding her body against mine.

"I take it you like the present then," I tease when we pull away.

She grins at me, "I absolutely love it. Thank you so much." She turns her back to me to allow me to put it on her and once it's sitting gently against her chest, she looks down at it with an adoring smile.

Shortly after, we pack everything up in the basket and make our way to my bike. I hang the basket off one of my handlebars, and this time Alice rides in front of me with my arms going around her body to reach the bars. Her hands gently caressing my thighs don't help my concentration at all.

We arrive back at the car and I dump my bike and the picnic basket in the back of Jasper's car before hopping into the cab.

"So, how was that for our first official date?" I ask Alice as I start the engine.

"Better than I could have ever imagine it. Thank you so much Bella, I really had a great time."

We drive back to the Cullen mansion and I walk Alice to her door. We stand there shyly, smiling at each other like the dorks we are.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," I begin.

"Yeah," she whispers back. She leans up to kiss my lips one last time and it lasts a very long time. When we eventually pull away, I can hear snickers from inside and when I look up, I see a curtain get pulled closed abruptly. We both chuckle at her siblings' antics before I give her one final 'I love you' and make my way back down the stairs.

During the entire ride home I feel giddy and weightless. I can't believe she loves me back. I'm over my head with relief that the date went as well as I'd hoped.

When I enter the house, Charlie has fallen asleep on the couch. I gently pick him up - something I never would have been able to do before I became a wolf - and carry him to his room, tucking him in. He snores in his sleep, I hope I didn't inherit that.

It takes a while for me to finally fall asleep, but when I do I dream of Alice.

* * *

**A/N: I've always been a sap for romance. Hope this was good and you don't feel it's moving too fast. Feel free to comment.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Time for some wolf lovin' :) For those of you who are curious about Leah, she gets a bit of airtime here, but not much is revealed just yet. Be patient. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Fifteen_

**BPOV**

My Saturday is spent with Charlie and I cleaning up the house. We do the laundry, broom and mop all over the floors, and rearrange a few pieces of furniture. His armchair stays in place, of course. That one's not negotiable.

When Sunday comes, I'm woken up by a phone call from Jake, asking me what time I'd be at the reservation. In all my nervousness about the date with Alice, I completely forget about my plan to talk to Jacob about the wolf thing. I haven't turned into a wolf again since the first day, and a small part of me has been dying to do so.

I don't tell Charlie that we're going to be cliff jumping since I know there's no way he'd ever let me go if he knew. When I pull my bike over in front of Jacob's house, he jogs out to greet me.

"Bella! It's been forever since I last saw you."

I climb off my bike and stand up to look at Jake. I see his eyes widen as he takes a look at me after nearly three weeks of not seeing each other.

"Not quite forever," I tease, "but I've missed you Jake." We hug lightly and I notice that his body doesn't feel cool to me like everyone else's does. It's almost like he's the same temperature as me.

"What happened to you Bells?"

I scratch my neck awkwardly, "I probably shouldn't talk about it here. How about we head up to the cliffs and we can talk once we get there?"

"Sure. I should probably warn you though, we're not going to be alone. I invited a couple of friends over to join us."

"That's alright, the more the merrier, right?"

When he said he invited a couple of friends, I didn't expect to see seven shirtless burly guys standing at the top of the cliff waiting for us. At least Sam isn't one of them, he still creeps me the fuck out.

"Hey Jake!" one of them says, holding out his hand for a high five. "What took you so long?"

"Bella's slow," he says with a teasing jab against my side with his elbow.

"Har har," I mutter, moving over to the edge to look over. I let out a low whistle. "That's a pretty big fall."

"The biggest," another guy tells me, flexing his arms and trying to be discreet about it. Poor guy doesn't know I'm gay. "I've jumped off this one over ten times."

"Impressive," I say with an appreciative nod. I see the slight triumphant smirk on his lips. I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I couldn't get my brother off my case and…" Leah trails off as her eyes meet mine.

Everyone becomes silent.

"Hey," I whisper, swallowing hard. She doesn't reply, only walks over to stand as far from me as possible. I sigh and run a hand through my hair.

Jake clears his throat. "So who's first?"

"I'll go," the same guy from before says. "Watch this sweet cheeks. The name's Embry." I watch as he flings himself off the cliff and for a moment I feel a spark of adrenaline at seeing how carefree he seems as he jumps.

"Are you gonna tell him you're gay?" Jake says, looking over the edge to watch Embry hit the water.

"He'll figure it out I'm sure," I murmur with a weak smile. My eyes remain trained on Leah. Fuck this is awkward.

One by one, all of the guys jump until there's only four of us left on top of the cliff. It's Jake, me, Leah and another guy who's name I've forgotten.

"Hey Bella, you said there's something you need to tell me?"

I glance quickly at the other two who seem preoccupied watching the waves down below and nod.

"Remember the legends you told me about your ancestors being wolves and all of that?"

He nods cautiously.

"I know they're true," I say, keeping my voice low. "I know what you guys are, and what the Cullens are."

I notice that Leah and the nameless male have stopped what they were doing. Leah's glaring at the water while the guy outright stares at me.

"Did they tell you?"

I shake my head. "Not until I asked."

"What did you ask them?" At this point, I can barely hear the faint footsteps of the other guys making their way back up the cliff.

"Well, first I should probably tell you that I'm not exactly human anymore. Or, maybe I never was." At his confused look, I explain further. "I turned into a wolf a little over two weeks ago. Something happened with a vampire who isn't a part of the Cullens' family, and next thing I know, I wake up on four legs. The Cullens helped me, and they're still searching fro the vampire who caused this…reaction in me. They also confirmed my suspicions about your legends being true, and I figured if you guys have had wolves in your families for generations, you probably know more than I do and can help me."

By the time I'm done, Leah is also staring at me, her eyes wide and shocked. I can no longer hear the footsteps approaching, but I can tell from the scent in the air that the others are close by and probably heard what I said.

"Holy fuck Bells," Jake says after a while.

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you want to go talk to Billy or Sam? Leah's probably best though, since she's the only other female wolf anyone on the reservation has ever come across."

I meet Leah's gaze and the ice in her eyes has melted a little. "Just don't expect me to be nice to you just because you can turn into a wolf now."

I try not to show how I happy I am. I just nod, grateful that she has actually spoken to me directly after almost two years. I can't help but think about how things were between Leah and me before what happened with Emily. As soon as I think of Emily, I feel a sharp pain in my chest, but it's soothed again by the thought of Alice. I can still tell it's there though.

We spend the rest of the morning cliff jumping and talking about what it's like to be a wolf. All of them are actually pretty nice and soon we're joking around like we've known each other forever. Leah is the only quiet one, but I catch her a few times with a small smile on her face as she watches us.

Before I leave, I ask Leah to help me with figuring out how to change into a wolf again. At first, she's reluctant to be alone with me, but after some coaxing from Jake, she agrees and we walk away from the boys and to another clearing further in the forest.

"Take off your clothes," Leah tells me as she begins removing her own.

"What?" I ask, shocked.

She rolls her eyes. "When you shift, your clothes get ripped off. They don't just disappear and reappear. So unless you want to go back home naked, remove your clothes."

I blush, feeling stupid, and nod. Once we're both naked, Leah turns to face me. My eyes glance over her body quickly and my eyes zero in on a jagged scar on her left side.

"What happened?"

Her face hardens. "Being around wolves isn't always a field day," she mutters darkly.

I don't ask anymore questions after that. After almost thirty minutes, I finally get the hang of phasing back and forth between human and wolf. I don't feel the pain that I felt the first time I phased, and for that I'm grateful.

"Just don't phase in front of humans," Leah tells me when we're pulling our clothes on. "They tend to freak out over stuff like that."

I chuckle, her humor hasn't changed a bit.

"Thank you Leah," I say softly while we make our way back to where we left the others.

She doesn't reply for a while, but after a minute, I hear her mutter "Anytime" under her breath.

When we get back to the top of the cliff, we find only Jacob and Embry waiting for us.

Jake looks between the two of us with concern in his eyes before he finally relaxes, seeing no one with a missing limb.

"You girls ready to go?" I nod and Leah shrugs and we head back down the cliff together.

The whole way there, Embry doesn't stop with his insistent flirting and it starts to get to me after a while.

Leah heads the opposite direction from us as soon as we break the line of trees and are back on the road. She doesn't say goodbye, but I'm just glad she talked to me today.

"Bye Embry," Jakes says pointedly when we reach his house.

Embry glares at him a bit before huffing and leaving.

"Charming kid," I mutter sarcastically once he's gone.

"Yeah, he's just a bit messed up," Jake says with a laugh.

"So how's it going with the Sam issue? Is he still stalking you?"

"Well, I found out that Sam's actually a wolf too. He was just waiting for me to shift because according to our bloodlines, I'm supposed to be the alpha of our pack. He was still being a creeper about it though, and I made sure to tell him."

"So you're the head wolf around here?"

"Not at all, I don't want that kinda responsibility on my shoulders. I told Sam no when he offered me the position. He keeps telling me it's still up for grabs, but I just don't think I'm the right person for it."

"I guess we'll see in the future, hmm?"

He shrugs. "I still don't know why you turned into a wolf though, I doubt you're Quileute, so maybe when I tell Billy he'll know more about this than I do. Until then, I'll let you know when I find out anything helpful for you."

"Thank you Jake," I tell him, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'll be over again next weekend. I had fun today and I think there's some hope of Leah finally forgiving me after all this time."

He smiles sadly at me, "Just don't count on it too much Bells." I nod with a sigh before getting on my bike and heading back home.

At least now I don't feel so alone anymore. For once, I'm grateful to Victoria for whatever she did to make me become a wolf because it seems to be a chance for me and Leah to rebuild our friendship. But there's no telling how long that may take.

* * *

**A/N: Gonna start including the wolves more after this since they have a big part in this story. Reviews are welcome :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here we go, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Sixteen_

**BPOV**

One Monday, it's back to school again and somehow I feel as if the whole high school setting is abnormally normal, if that even makes sense. Everyone seems to be going about their business, completely unaware that there are people among them who aren't human and who could easily kill them in two seconds.

I shake my head and pull my earphones out. This kinda music tends to lead me to morbid thoughts. I decide to listen for the remained of class, and finally when the boring spanish movie is finished, the lights are turned back on. I hear some groans around me as people squint in the sudden brightness, but my eyes are able to adjust instantly to the change in lighting.

"Fun movie, huh?" Jasper mutters sarcastically next to me.

"Top at the box office," I mumble back, stretching my arms above my head.

We walk together to the cafeteria as always, but as soon as I have my food and start heading towards the Cullens' table, I feel a clammy hand grasp my elbow. I turn to see Jessica blinking rapidly up at me.

"Hi Bella," she says, her voice low. "How about you come and sit with us today?" I raise my eyebrow at her and glance back at the Cullens' table to find them all snickering as they watch except for Alice who's glaring at Jessica's hold on my arm.

"I was actually gonna go sit with-"

"Us? Great!" Jessica exclaims, dragging me behind her to their table.

Angela and Ben aren't there yet and it's only Jessica, Lauren, Mike, Eric and Tyler. I decide to sit next to Eric since he's the only one I don't find irritating at the moment.

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence," Lauren says with a fake smile aimed at me.

"Oh don't be so sour Lauren," Jessica says, laughing almost hysterically. She leans against my arm, not even trying to be discreet about being all over me like she is.

"Well what's with the sudden interest Jess," Lauren asks with mock kindness.

Jessica rolls her eyes at Lauren and doesn't reply. Oh yeah, great defence.

Just then, I spot Angela and Ben walking toward our table from the lunch line.

"Hey guys," they say at the same time, sharing a shy smile when they do.

"Hi!" I say, a bit too enthusiastic. I need relief from Jessica. I gesture pointedly at Jessica while trying not to seem too obvious about it. _Please,_ I mouth to Angela.

"Hey Jessica, do you mind if I sit next to Bella? I need some help with my trig homework."

"Oh, I'm sure she doesn't mind, do you Jessica?"

Jess looks at me with a sad expression. "No, I guess not." I reign in my sigh of relief. I glance back at the Cullens' table to find Alice calming down after seeing Jessica moving from her seat next to me. _I love you_, I mouth to her. She smiles and mouths it back, sending me an air kiss.

"You two are almost sickening sometimes," Angela teases, placing her tray down on the table.

"You're just jealous," I say, shoving her shoulder lightly. Of course, she doesn't have any actual work she needs help on, but Jessica is looking between the two of us with beady eyes and I think she's waiting for a chance to move next to me again.

Suddenly, I get an idea and quickly turn to Angela.

"I need to uh…use the bathroom. I'll see you in Math." I grab my backpack and make a dash out of the cafeteria.

I only have to wait for a minute before the bathroom door is opened and Alice's lips are against mine.

"I swear I wanted to rip her head off," Alice hisses against my lips before capturing them again.

I feel myself getting wet from how aggressive she's being and I moan against her mouth.

"If she ever touches you again Bella, I'll-" she's cut off when I give her nipple a teasing pinch through her shirt and she squeals.

"Aw, it's okay baby," I coo against her ear. "I'm yours, all yours."

"I'm just protecting my territory," she says with a grin. "My _hot_ territory."

"I'm your territory?"

She hums in response and leans in again to kiss me. I kiss her back slowly and when I'm about to pull back she works her tongue into my mouth. I moan against her and our kiss becomes more heated. My hands begin to wander, our backpacks long forgotten on the ground next to us. I place my hands on her hips, pulling her up onto the bathroom counter. She wraps her legs around my waist, using them to pull me closer to her and moves her small hands into my hair.

"We should stop," she murmurs while I catch my breath for a second.

"I know," I say, before returning my lips to hers. I walk us over to the wall and press her back against it, using it to hold her up so my hands can roam freely. We're both furiously groping each other while our tongues battle it out for victory over her mouth. She reaches under my shirt and grabs one of my breasts in each hand and begins to play with them. I move my lips to suck on the weak spot on her neck and she moans loudly. The smell of her arousal makes me feel high.

We continue until two gasps come from near the bathroom door and we both turn out heads to see who it is.

Jessica and Lauren.

Jessica has a look of anger on her face, aimed mostly at Alice while Lauren looks halfway between disgusted and turned on.

Will we ever catch a break with those two? Alice removes her hands from under my shirt, adjusting it properly and I removed mine from her backside. I clear my throat while helping Alice down before grabbing our backpacks and nodding awkwardly to our audience. I grab Alice's hand and we quickly leave the bathroom.

The bell rings just as we leave, and we share a gentle kiss before separating for our classes.

Bio goes by slowly, and I find myself looking forward to Math because both Alice and Angela are in it with me. Alice had her schedule adjusted so she'd have more time with me in school after she decided that Gym and lunch weren't enough.

I'm the first one out of class when the bell rings, and I dash through the sea of bodies to get to my next class.

"Alice," I sigh happily when I almost collide with her at the door.

"Someone's in a hurry to see me," she says with a smirk.

"When am I not?" I chuckle. "You're one of the reasons why I even come to school."

Alice and I make our way out of the changing rooms wearing our gym clothes and join the others who are gathered around coach Clapp.

"All right, listen up class!" Everyone turns to him and quiets down. "I will be putting you in your pairs today, because I have seen from previous classes that _some people_ tend to not do anything when they're paired together."

There are a few groans in the group, but no one says anything.

"Here are the pairs. Listen now, because I won't repeat myself. Stanley, you're with Swan. Crowely, you're with Newton. Marshall, you're with Cullen. Mallory, you're with…" I stop listening when I hear that I won't be paired with Alice today and worse that I would be with Jessica instead.

"Oh, Bella! I'm so excited!…" I ignore her, my eyes set on Alice who's pouting at me adorably.

_I'm sorry, I love you,_ I mouth to her. She smiles a bit blows me a kiss before walking over to Katie Marshall who is her partner. I keep my eyes on Katie's hands, not trusting the way she looks at my girlfriend.

"I mean, don't you think so too Bella?"

"Huh?" I turn to Jessica to see her smiling brightly. "Uh, whatever."

"OKAY!" Coach yells, before blowing his whistle to get everyone's attention again. "I want everyone on circuits for the next twenty minutes, and after that we'll have our pair offs."

A lot of people groan at having to do circuits, but thanks to the wolf in me, exercising isn't so horrible anymore. I jump into it as soon as the whistle is blown and Jessica follows behind me, stumbling slightly when she steps on her shoelaces.

Twenty minutes were up before I knew it, and the teacher spoke again.

"Alright! Everybody get ready, shake the pain off. We're about to get started."

There are a few incredulous outbursts, and I can see why. More than half of the other students are now sweating heavily, and even more were panting like dogs in a desert.

"I can't believe he just spilt us up like that!" Alice has been going on about this ever since we left the gym.

"I know baby, I know."

"And that Jessica girl! Ugh! I felt like...like...ripping her head clean off her shoulders! I should have done it too with the way she's always all over you, and then her and Lauren just _happened_ to walk in on us in the bathroom…"

"It's okay Ali, there will be other opportunities," I say, slinging my bag off my shoulder as we reach her car.

"There better be," she mutters, reaching into her bag for her keys.

We head off for her place since I haven't been there in a while. We pull into the drive way and climb out. I leave my bag in Alice's car and offer to carry hers inside.

"Such a gentleman," she says with a grin, patting the top of my head before getting into the car.

"Only for you, baby."

* * *

**A/N: Just some slight humor. More will be happening in the coming chapters :) Reviews are appreciated.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: This chapter reveals some of what happened with Emily, and a slightly deeper look at Leah as a character. Hope you enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Seventeen_

**BPOV**

On Wednesday, Charlie gets invited to a barbecue over at Billy's and he asks me to come long. I say yes and after promising Alice a million times that I'd be safe, we get going. Soon enough we're pulling up in front of the house where the front yard is packed with people. I can't even recognize half of them.

"Don't drink, and meet me by the car at 9, okay kid?"

I barely nod to Charlie, already closing the door and going to look for Jacob.

I find him in the kitchen with the guys and Leah, all of them with huge burgers in one hand and a soda or water in the other.

"Oh hey Bells, glad you could make it." I wrinkle my nose at Jake's tendency to speak with food in his mouth. "Sorry," he mumbles with a grin.

"Did you get any info from Billy about why I might be a wolf?"

Jake shrugs, "Sorry Bells, he's just as baffled as we are. You can talk to him about it some time if you want, but I'm pretty sure you'll only be able to come up with theories."

I nod and grab a burger from the pile on the kitchen table. My hunger suddenly bursts out and I attack it viciously. When I'm done I expect to find the others looking at me weirdly, but no one bats an eyelash. _Oh yeah, they're wolves too. Probably used to it by now._

We're all talking and laughing, even Leah, when Sam walks in with Paul and Jared at his sides and everyone quiets down. He has a small smile on his lips that disappears when he spots me.

"What's she doing here?"

Jake rolls his eyes. "Chill out Sam, she's here with her dad."

"We don't allow leach lovers on our land." I notice the others shifting uncomfortably but I ignore them.

"It's not her fault she imprinted on one of them," Leah quickly defends. Apparently imprinting is the Quileute version of falling in love. It was the easiest way for me to explain to them what I felt for Alice, although I felt I had more choice in the matter of who I love than they seem to.

"She doesn't belong here," Sam spits out again, glaring at me still.

"Then where do I belong Sam?" I ask, my own glare in place. "And who are you exactly to determine that?"

"Go back to your bloodsuckers if you know what's good for-"

"Hi guys!" Seth says, entering the room with a grin that wavers when he notices everyone's tense postures. Jake told me he isn't a wolf yet so we can't talk normally around him.

Sam rolls his shoulders back before giving Seth a curt nod and leaving, Jared and Paul silently at his flanks.

Leah sighs and turns to me. "Come on, let's go to my room." I eagerly follow, wanting to escape the tension in the room.

I pause to grab three more burgers, balancing them in my hands while holding onto the rim of my cup with my teeth. I see amusement in the others' eyes as I give them a careful nod in farewell, not wanting to spill my soda on myself.

Once we're settled with Leah on her bed and me sitting on her desk chair, Leah starts tossing a miniature basketball into the air before catching it again and repeating. I eat silently while watching her form the corner of my eye and she only turns to me when I accidentally burp louder than I had expected.

"Sorry," I mutter.

She sighs and puts the ball down, turning to me. "So am I." I look at her, confused and she explains. "I've been a bitch to you unfairly. I know you're not to blame for what happened to my cousin and I shouldn't have taken it out on you so much."

I'm about to interrupt, but she holds up her hand, telling me she's not done.

"I'm not saying I forgive you entirely, I still think you could have done more to prevent the it, but you don't deserve the cold shoulder I've been giving you all this time. Car accidents happen, and I shouldn't have been so harsh towards you for it. I was hoping you'd be able to forgive me and maybe we could try being friends again."

I sit there staring at her in shock. Did I hear what I think I just heard? I feel like looking around her room for hidden cameras but decide against it when I see the sincerity in her eyes.

"What brought this on?" I ask her softly.

She shrugs. "I got tired. Of being angry all the time. Of blaming you for everything bad that happens to me. I think of how close we were before and it makes me fell so horrible to know that I'm the reason we don't have that anymore. I didn't even consider how you must've felt to lose your first and only girlfriend when you were only sixteen."

We're both silent for a while, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

"It's okay," I murmur at last. "I understand why you were so angry with me, and I don't hold it against you. Honestly I blamed myself for the accident too; I still do."

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. It's bad enough I was giving you so much crap about it. I know you must miss her a lot."

We don't talk much about it after that, moving instead to talk about wolf related stuff as she answers my many questions about what it's like to be half wolf. I'm half sad and half glad that I won't be getting my period again - that shit hurt like hell every time - but I'm also sad that I might never get to have kids of my own, something I've always thought about. My mind drifts to Alice, and I make a mental note to ask her if vampires can have kids. I doubt it, but there's no harm in asking.

Leah and I aren't exactly best buddies by the time Charlie calls me so we can leave, but we've made more progress that I had ever thought was possible. I'm glad to have reformed some sort of friendship with her though. The two of us used to be almost as close as Angela and I before what happened with Emily.

It's then that I realize I have yet to even mention Emily to Alice and despite the pain that comes with the memory of her, the fact that I loved her still remains and Alice deserves to at least know such a big part of my past. It won't be a pleasant conversation at all, but it's a necessary pain if I'm going to earn and keep Alice's trust.

* * *

**A/N: I didn't want to go into too much detail about Emily's story because that'll come later when Bella's talking to Alice about it. Reviews are welcome :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Okay, stepping away from Emily for a second. Here's chapter 18, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer****: ****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Eighteen_

**BPOV**

By the time it's Monday again, I'm exhausted - both physically and mentally. The entire weekend starting with my date with Alice on Friday night was packed, and as I wait on my porch for Alice to arrive I feel like just putting my head down for a second and drifting for a little while.

Soon the sound of Alice's car coming down the road appears, getting louder and louder until she stops at the end of my driveway.

I yawn and rub my eyes a bit as I make my way over, dropping myself heavily onto the seat when I've opened the door.

"Aww, is my poor baby tired?" Alice coos, leaning over to kiss my lips gently.

"Mhmm," I reply softly with a pout. I shut the door and she starts driving to school, going faster than usual. When we get there, the parking lot is still just filling up and we have almost fifteen minutes before we have to get to homeroom.

"Come on," Alice says to me, grabbing her backpack and climbing out of the car.

I climb out with a whine and follow Alice to the picnic tables on the grass that no one ever uses because it's almost always raining. Alice sets her bag down on top of the table and sits on the end of the bench, patting her lap in welcome.

I quickly dump my bag next to hers and lay down on the bench, my knees bent and my head resting on her small lap. She runs her fingers through my hair and scratches gently, making me close my eyes and start purring softly. Her giggle sounds far away through the haze of pleasure that seems to be cutting off all my senses except to feel and smell Alice.

We sit like this for a while until eventually, we hear someone walking up to us.

"Hey there lovebirds," Angela says, putting her bag on the table and sitting on the bench on the opposite side of the table.

"Hi Angela," Alice says in her usual chipper tone. Must be great to not need sleep.

When I don't say good morning, Angela pokes my upraised knee, throwing me off balance on the narrow bench and almost making me fall off. I glare at her lazily before closing my eyes again and turning my face into Alice's stomach and inhaling deep slow breaths.

"Don't mind her," Alice says, her hands still moving through my hair. "She's just been very busy this weekend, that's all."

"Oh, did you two…" she trails off suggestively.

"Don't be a perv Ange," I mutter against Alice's stomach making her squirm.

"What? I'm just asking. You don't have to tell me the details." I would roll my eyes, but it seems like way too much work. Why the heck am I so tired?

The bell rings eventually, and we have to get up. I whine and grumble when Alice gently raises my head off her lap and she kisses me lovingly, telling me that I'd see her again during lunch. I pout anyway and continue to do so until my Spanish class with Jasper where he uses his gift on me to get rid of some of the fatigue and also lighten my mood.

All throughout lunch, I barely let go of Alice, always maintaining contact with her in some form. We sit at the Cullens' table today and none of her siblings seem to be bothered by our increased touchy-feely behaviour. I wonder briefly if we're making it obvious that we practically had sex on Friday. Well, as close as I've ever gotten anyway.

Alice invites me over after school, but I'm too exhausted so I decline in favor of catching some sleep at home. She agrees after making me promise to come tomorrow and then drives me home, only leaving after I'm tucked in and already nodding off.

By the time I wake up, Charlie's home and I can hear him playing music downstairs. I trudge down sleepily, rubbing my face as I try to wake up and make my way to the kitchen where I can hear the music coming from.

When I walk in, I see him wearing mom's apron and singing along to Elton John's song Don't Go Breaking My Heart. It was mom's favorite and she sang it all the time when she was busy around the house.

"Hey dad," I say from the doorway, smiling while I watch him dishing what looks like pasta and some of Billy's fish fry.

"Oh hi Bells. I got home and found you knocked out so I figured I'd go ahead and cook today. You look pretty exhausted kid, you alright?"

I shrug and take a seat at the table. "So what's all this?"

"Your mothers' favorite meal. Or my attempt at making it anyway," he says with a nervous chuckle. "I'm not entirely sure it's edible."

Suddenly, it clicks. The apron, the song, the food…mom's birthday. Tears form in my eyes and as soon as Charlie notices, he puts the pot down and pulls me into a firm but gentle hug. A sob breaks out of me suddenly and he gently strokes my hair and shushes me until I finally quiet down again.

"Come on, let's not let this good food go to waste, hmm?" I nod silently, wiping the remaining tears from my cheeks. The food is horrible, but I eat it all anyway. By the look on Charlie's face he doesn't seem too fond of it either, but he follows my example and finishes what's on his plate.

"Next year, I'm cooking," I say with a joking scowl on my face.

"No problem kid, I have no problem with that." He opens the fridge and grabs his second and last beer of the week, pausing to send a mock glare at me while I hold up two fingers to tell him that he's used up his allowance.

"And it's only Monday," I say with a grin. His face pales slightly and he puts it back in the fridge.

"I'll save it for a rainy day then," he says with a sigh, grabbing a bottle of water instead. "Goodnight kid."

"Later dad," I say, hugging him briefly before taking care of the dishes.

I have trouble falling asleep, probably because I slept all day, so I end up texting Alice to ask her to come over. Before I hit send, there's a light tapping on my window. I get up to open it and see Alice balanced precariously on the branch outside my window. I open it and let her in.

"I saw that you were gonna need the company tonight," she explains while unwrapping her scarf and tossing it on the back of my desk chair.

"Thank you," I say, pulling her into my arms and kissing the top of her hair.

We snuggle on my bed for a long time, just talking about random things until finally I start to feel tired and fall asleep in her cool comforting arms.

* * *

**A/N: Slightly more depth will also be given to what happened to Bella's mom. I don't like adding tons of details into things like that because I'm trying to keep my story light but at the same time, the characters need depth. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed :) R&R**


	19. Chapter 19

******Thank you to the readers who have stuck with me till now :)**

**Disclaimer:****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Nineteen_

**BPOV**

"Get her! GET HER! Eddie, you're letting her esca-DAMN IT!"

"It's not my fault! She freaking bumped my wheel, what the hell Bella!"

"Language boys," Esme says from outside.

"Sorry," they both mutter quickly.

"Don't get all antsy with me just because you can't win against me," I say to both of them, opening my mouth to accept another grape from Alice.

It's Wednesday, and we're all sitting around the TV, playing some game that Emmett had bought during the weekend and had been dying to try out with us.

Rosalie has her nose in some car magazine while Jasper is watching the game with an amused smirk. Emmett and Edward are sharing the largest couch while Alice and I are on the love seat with her on my lap and a bowl of grapes on hers. She takes another one and pops it into my mouth as soon as I've swallowed. According to her, it's fascinating to watch me eat.

"I want a rematch," Emmett demands, already hitting the buttons to set it up.

"No way, we've played five rounds already, I need something fresh."

He sticks his tongue out at me much like Alice does and for a moment they actually seem related.

"I'm gonna go help Esme in the garden," Edward says, putting down his controller.

"Oh come on Eddie, you can't pick flowers over Xbox."

Edward chuckles on his way out the door. "Sorry Em."

Emmett sighs dejectedly and slouches in his seat.

"Don't worry Em, we can play guitar hero some time and I know you'll have a chance to beat me at that."

"Just you wait Isabella Swan. The day will come when you lose to me in Street Racer, and when that day comes…" he trails off with a glare before moving to switch the game, putting it in single player mode.

"Wanna go outside and hang out with Esme?" Alice asks, putting another grape in my mouth before I can answer.

I roll my eyes at her. "Yes, now enough grapes. I'm gonna pop."

She chuckles before placing the bowl down and grabbing my hand to pull me outside with her.

"Hi Esme," she says, sitting down under a tree and pulling me down with her. We cuddle in our usual position, with me behind her and my arms wrapped around her and my legs on either side of hers.

"Hello dear. How are you two girls doing?"

I shrug, "We're good. Just haven't hung out with you in a while." Edward is a few metres away, plucking out weeds slowly from a patch of some flower I don't know the name of.

Esme chuckles gently while clipping her rose bushes at human speed. "Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like."

Watching her tend to the garden with such patience and care is calming somehow, and I find myself relaxing against the tree while Alice plays with my fingers. She's like the perfect mother, kind, gentle, loving but with enough spice thrown in so her kids don't walk all over her. She reminds me so much of my own mother that it's hard not to see her in some way as a second mom.

"You make a great mom, ya know," I say, still watching her hands as she trims her roses.

"Thank you dear," she says with a kind smile. "It's hard when you have this bunch for kids, I'll admit," she looks pointedly at Alice who just huffs and sticks her tongue out. To Alice that's the ultimate comeback, and so far she has ended so many arguments with the simple gesture.

"Well you're pretty good at it, so you should give yourself some credit."

"Where's your mother dear? I don't think you've ever mentioned her."

I shift uncomfortably and turn to look out into the dense forest not too far from where we are. "She died when I was eleven," I mumble. "Car crash."

"Oh honey I'm so sorry," she says with sympathy on her face. Alice stops fumbling with my fingers for a moment and turns around in my lap to embrace me and kiss my neck lovingly.

I shrug weakly. "It was long ago." I sigh, wanting to change the subject. "So how'd you become a vampire anyways Esme? You've never talked about it."

She smiles weakly, "It's not a very nice story to tell dear. I was abused by my husband for years before I ended up pregnant with his child. I had a feeling it would be a boy, so I named him and even made tiny little clothes and everything. Even my husband seemed less angry all the time once I got pregnant. A few weeks before I was supposed to give birth, I had a miscarriage. My husband had gotten home drunk one night and one thing led to another…"

I felt anger spread through me and a growl threatened at my lips. Who in the right mind would ever hurt Esme? She's the sweetest person I've ever met.

"Anyway, I fell into a depression after that. Then finally one day it was too much for me, and I tried to commit suicide. I jumped off a nearby bridge, but the fall didn't kill me. Carlisle was working at a hospital in that town at the time, and he found me barely breathing. I don't remember much beyond when I jumped off, but I remember waking up and Carlisle's face being the first thing I saw," a loving smile adorns her face as she talks about him. "He had only turned Edward by that time, so in some ways I now had the family I always wanted. A wonderful son, and loving husband. It only got better since then. Admittedly, not everyone in our family who was changed was given much choice, but it worked out on its own. Fate does that sometimes."

Alice keeps her arms around me for a little longer until it starts getting late and I have to go home.

"It's getting late; I'll see you around Esme," I say, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Take care dear," she says with a smile, putting away her gardening tools.

Alice and I drive in silence to my house where she helps me finish off some of my history homework. The entire time, she's rolling her eyes at the history books, telling me how much they got wrong and how much was put in there just to add effect.

"It must be cool to have been alive all those years," I comment once we're done.

"Sometimes," she replies, wrinkling her nose adorably. "It's not nearly as much fun when you're alone. In some ways I was always the odd one out. Rosalie has Emmett, Carlisle has Esme, and even though they're not mated, I've always felt like Edward has Jasper. I think if those two were human they would have ended up together."

She lays across the bed with her head on my lap while I lean against the wall. "Well you have me now," I say with a smile, stroking her hair.

"Yes I do, and I don't plan on ever letting you go Miss Swan."

"Good, because I don't think I could ever be as happy without you, now that I know what it's like to have such a wonderful girlfriend-slash-mate."

"I am pretty wonderful, aren't I?" she says with a teasing grin.

We stay like that, just talking like we always do until it's late enough for me to start preparing supper for Charlie and myself. I eat before he arrives so I can say Alice ate with me; wouldn't want a repeat of the other night.

Finally, Charlie arrives and shortly after Alice leaves to drop her car home. When I make my way upstairs, I find her laying sideways on my bed with her eyes closed and her legs dangling off the edge.

I quickly change into my sweatshirt and shorts, handing Alice another one of my shirts to sleep in and soon after we're both cuddling under my blankets, speaking softly until I finally fall asleep.

* * *

**A/N: A bit of Bella/Esme interaction in this chapter and just a bit of fluff added in. Feedback is appreciated :)**

**Oh, and what do you guys think about the changes? The main plot hasn't changed, just some details that tie it together better.**


	20. Chapter 20

**It has...been a while. I know that's a massive understatement. I started on yet another story (not published yet) and just when I was about to put it up, I realized how unfair it is to the readers who have been waiting for me to update this one.**

**Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

******Disclaimer:****I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.**

* * *

_Chapter Twenty_

**BPOV**

I gulp as I watch more and more hair fall to the ground next to me. Not just a few strands, chunks. Lots of them.

"Are you sure you've done this before?" I ask with an embarrassing squeak.

Alice chuckles, "Relax, I know what I'm doing. I mean, look at Edward's hair." My eyes widen and I nearly shoot out of the chair, but her strong arm on my shoulder keeps me put. "Geez, I'm just kidding B, a little trust please?"

The soft music playing in the background does nothing to calm me. The last time I let someone cut my hair was in middle school, and the weeks it took to grow it out were the most painful ones of my life. I can never forget the nicknames that came out of that horrific haircut. I'd been cutting my own hair ever since then.

A few more snips with her scissors, and Alice finally announces that she's done. Hesitantly, I turn to the mirror to see the new look. I can't help the huge sigh of relieve that escapes me when I see that it actually looks good. It wasn't as close to a buzz cut as I had feared, but she had taken a lot of it off. It couldn't be more than an inch and a half long now.

Alice huffs, "Your relief is almost insulting. What did you think I would do? Butcher your hair?"

"I can't help it. I had a bad childhood experience with hair cutting. Plus you were cutting so quickly it just made me nervous."

"Those are the benefits of dating a vampire," she says with a grin before pecking my lips. "Now you go and shower and make sure you shampoo and condition. I'll be waiting out here with the blow drier."

/

"Presenting the new and improved Isabella Swan!"

I roll my eyes before descending the stairs into the living room. "Ta-da," I mutter sarcastically.

Emmett makes an obnoxious catcall while the others just nod approvingly.

"Not bad at all," Jasper says with a smile. I smile back nervously, raising my hand to run it through my hair and once again relishing in how light my head feels and the breeze I can now feel behind my ears.

"Now, onto the order of business," Emmett says, digging out another game controller. "You still owe me that rematch. Hopefully your strength was in your hair and I can actually crush you this time."

"Not a chance Loverboy," I laugh, jumping over the back of the couch to plop next to him and take the controller.

"Don't break my couch!" Esme calls from outside and I share a knowing look with Emmett before we both snickering.

"Children," Rosalie mutters, turning back to her laptop.

/

Alice and I are back in her room and she's sorting through her closet, separating clothes she wants to keep from clothes that she's planning to donate. The others have already done so with their own clothes apparently, and she just hadn't gotten around to it with everything that had been going on.

"What do you think?" Alice asks, holding up another top to her torso and facing me.

I think about it for a minute before shaking my head. She tosses it into the pile of clothes to be donated. I'm laying on the ground in wolf form with my head resting on the growing pile of clothes. Every now and then I take a deep breath, getting more and more drunk from her scent that clings to the clothes. I continue watching her lazily as she bends down to take out another top. The bending over is my second favorite part of this whole thing. It's almost as good as being surrounded by her scent, but not quite.

It took a while, but slowly I'm getting used to being in my wolf form. Alice seems to like it when I'm a wolf and I love it when she scratches my fur so it's a win-win. It's much easier to walk without all that fur in my way though, and my coat gleams in the light now because of how short it is.

"Well, my little fur ball, you'll be happy to know that I'm almost done. What do you want to do afterwards?" she turns to me as if expecting me to answer her as I am.

I just look at her silently, huffing when she doesn't look away, and stand up. I close my eyes and shift back to my human form.

"I'm good with anything. Though there is something I was hoping to talk to you about, if you don't mind."

I notice her eyes lingering on certain parts of my body as I go and lay down on her bed, too lazy to cover myself.

"Sure," she replies with a squeak, turning back to her closet. I smirk slightly before closing my eyes again and relaxing against the soft bed.

It's a few more minutes later before I feel her body lay on top of mine and soft lips against my own. I return the kiss eagerly, but then stop before I start something I wouldn't be able to finish with her family just downstairs. Especially Emmett. The walls were almost soundproof, but with their enhanced hearing they would no doubt be able to hear if things got loud.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Alice asks, laying her head down on the space between my breasts.

"I was with Leah the other day."

Her head lifts up immediately and her eyes narrow at me. "And?"

Under her scrutiny I begin to stutter, "Well uh…we were just talking about things. You know…uh random things-"

"Like what?" The dangerous flash in her eyes makes me worried for Leah.

"Well, somehow we ended up talking about, you know, which position would be most effective for uh…you know, a pair of lovers who uh…wanted to maybe c-conceive a baby or-"

"You were discussing sex positions?" she demands.

"Well, I guess some people would refer to it as that," I say, almost forgetting why I had brought this up in the first place. "But that's not what I wanted to tell you. She mentioned that she isn't able to have any children - or have her period or any of that, ever since she became a wolf. As far as I know, we're not exactly the same kind of wolf, but I guess I was just curious."

"Oh," Alice mumbles, looking sheepish. "Well, have you missed yours? Or are you late?"

"I'm not really sure. It's always been irregular so I can never really tell when it is and isn't late. What about you? Being a vampire, I mean."

"We can't have children either. The transformation stops just about every human function. Most of the human things that we do are due to habit than actual need."

"Oh," I say, not really knowing what to say. "That must suck."

Alice shrugs, leaning her head back down onto my chest. "Some take it harder than others. Rosalie and Esme for example. They both always wanted to have children. I don't really mind it too much because I guess I didn't have that option even when I was human. It was just never a possibility I guess."

We drift off into silence, both thinking about our own thing. It isn't until Alice sighs and her cool breath blows onto my nipple that I remember the position we are in. My heart picks up the pace and suddenly it's a challenge to think about anything other than the feeling of Alice's body on top of my naked one.

Apparently noticing my reaction, Alice smirks and the next moment, all I am aware of is the feeling of her mouth enclosed around my now very attentive nipple.

"Ali," I gasp, my hands going into her hair. "Your family's right downstairs."

She releases my nipple with a pop and smirks at me. "Guess that means you're gonna have to tone down the screaming."

"I do not-OH GOD!"

My lower region ripples in excitement when her sharp teeth take a nip and at the same time her fingers find my clit.

She pulls back with a chuckle, "You were saying?"

* * *

**Feedback and comments are welcome. I don't still don't have a beta, so if you notice any mistakes feel free to let me know so I can correct them.**


End file.
